Yu-Gi-Oh Star Champions (Discontinued)
by Icecream curvy
Summary: A Great Tournament Between Duelists Rage's On! The Final 8 Are Now Going To Compete For The Title Of New King Of Games! Can Cael Abel And His Friends Win The Grand Prize and The Title of King Of Games...?
1. Prologue

" Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting. "  
- _Napoleon Hill_

Neo City Is A grand Place On the Eastern Part On The continent, It Was Founded some time Ago To be A Safehaven For Humans everywhere  
The City Thrives In Nearly Every Area But especially In **Duel Monsters**  
Card Games Have Become Essentially Apart of Everyone's Life And Liberty And Neo city Has Produced Over 100 World Wide **Champions**  
To The Average Neocian, Neo city is a Paradise Full Of Adventure And Exploration, To which Hope's and dreams can be accomplished  
But... There's a Deep Darkness Waiting To be Discovered...

* * *

Author: You Might wanna Read Yu-gi-oh Star Channel.  
it's Not Necessary but Just a recommendation since it's connected to this story.


	2. New Advents

Neo City  
November 8th 2074

Neo City Metropolitan High School  
It Had Been 3 Weeks Since I had dueled and Lost To My supposed "Friend" Leonaidis and Broken My wrist. On My Left Hand Were A collection Of Bandages And Medical Tape  
Everyday Was Full Of Pain As if I had even Slightly Moved My wrist I would get A Sharp Pain.  
It Was Hard To even Get Up In The Morning, And Even Harder to Go to School  
Although It wasnt All Bad... Everyone Seemed To Notice Me More In class And even Some Popular Kids Felt Bad For me.  
I usually Dont Like Being Pittied On, But hey I dont mind... As Long As someone At Least Cares About me

"Cael Abel!" The Teacher Called My Name From the Front Of the Classroom  
"Present!" I replied  
The Teacher Looked At me With A scornful Look On her Face, Angry and dissapointed  
Meanwhile The Rest Of The Class Burst Into Laughter And Snickers  
"I wasnt Taking Attendance You dolt, I was Going To Ask You A question"  
I felt Like An Idiot And Immediately Blushed And Apologized  
"I know Your Wrist Is Broken, But Your Surely Isnt. Please Pay Closer Attention"  
"Whatever" I whispered

I Just Looked Back At The Window, It Was Late Fall And The Tree's Were Turning Brown and red  
The Cool winds of Fall were coming to end as winter Was Almost Here... But That Wasn't The Only Thing Coming to an end  
"The Neo City Youth Tournament" I said to Myself,  
About Four Weeks ago, Me And My Friends Had Entered Ourself's In Said Tournament To Win The Cash Prize Of 6 Million CR  
And Now We Were In The Quarter Finals of It.  
Only Eight Contestants Remain And Of Those 2 Of which Are My friends, So Our Odds Of Winning Are Pretty High  
But I was Worried About The Five Other's They Seemed Pretty Skilled And Hardened as Duelists  
(Damn...) But I had To Put My frustrations Aside Because Of School

*Ding* The Bell Rang As Students were Dismissed  
The Final Class For Today Was Ended And I proceded Outside Of the Classroom And Proceded Outside  
The Cold Winds Of Late Fall Hit My Face And Caused Me To Shiver  
Then I heard two Familiar Voices In the distance and two figures walked Up To me  
"Cael, Wait Up!" They Said  
They Were My Friends Yubie and Ali **  
**  
 **Yubie Kattobin** Was On The Left. She was A Friend Of Ali's And A Key Member In our Group  
She Was The Height As Me and Always Wore some sort of Dress usually white, Her Hair Was Royal Yellow and she Had Blue eyes And Was A generally Well Built Person  
But Despite Her Appearances On the Outside, Yubie Was A bit well... Eccentric  
"You Fool, Having Us to Look For You Like That!"  
She Thought Herself To be A sort Of Evil Empress. But Honestly Its Probaly Just A facade  
"Someone Like Me shouldnt Be Forced To wait In this Cold!" She Said Shivering

To The Right Was **Alison Ichibara** but we just called her "Ali"  
She Was My ChildHood Friend And Our Guiding star, She acts as A sort of heart of the group  
She Was Slightly Shoter Than me And Wore A Black Uniform with a white interior.  
Ali Was A sweet and Kind person who Was Almost Too kind and gullible to A fault  
"Are you two Ok? You both Look Like Your S-shivering..." She said ironically as she was shivering Herself  
"We Could Ask The same Of you, You mongrel" Yubie Said  
"M-mongrel?" Ali Replied confused And Shivering  
I was Worried So I suggested something "You Can Wear My Jacket If You Want Ali"  
Ali Blushed And Her Head "N-no I can Hold Out" It Was Then Silent for a few Minutes  
"So You Guys Were Waiting For me, Correct? So what For" I Reminded  
"ah!" Ali Suddenly Remembered Her Train Of Thought, She Then Pulled Out A note From Her Pocket  
"Taka Wants us To Meet Him At Meimei's Diner!"  
(Taka...) Taka Was Another Friend of Mine, We Hadnt been The Closest In The Past weeks But we Were Still Friends  
"For What Reason?"  
"To Discuss The Our Plans For The Tournament of course" She Responded  
It Was Necessary, But I didnt Really Want To go...

*Woosh*The Wind Blew Harder and We Were all Cold And quivering  
The Wind Brushed Our Skin Again Causing Yubie To Raise Her Hand to cover her Face  
"ARgh! I Cant Take This Anymore! Lets Get Moving Already" Yubie Said Impatiently  
Yubie Ran Off In The North Direction  
"Yubie W-Wait!"  
"And She's Gone..." I said Sarcastically We Couldnt Even See Yubie Anymore In The Distance  
"Well we Better Get Going Too, Ali Your Practically Dying Out Here!" I said jokingly  
"U-um right!"  
We Both went Off to The diner Not Knowing What Taka Was going to do  
But We Went Foward With Our Destiny!


	3. Friends

Me And Ali Had Walked About 30 Minutes In The Shivering Cold Of Neo city, we Were Very Cold and Hoping for sweet succulent grip of hot chocolate  
Or At Least I was.  
"We're Here" I said Hopefully  
The Establishment in front of me Was Named 'Golden Fortune'  
The Name Made It sound Like it wasnt even A restaurant at all But some sort of Fortune telling Place.  
It Was The Family owned PLace Of Our Friend Meimei...  
But Regardless, It Apparently Was A Very Popular One, Because The Restaurant was almost full.  
"Jeez, I hope they saved Us A seat" Ali said  
"Eh? Knowing taka he probably saved us an entire section!"  
We Both snickered and then went inside, The Restaurant itself was of an eastern theme with a red background with Dragons and Lanterns on the wall  
The whole place was painted with red and yellow and had a Old style feeling to it

"There They are!" Ali chanted  
I Looked Over to See 4 Figures Sitting a a round table Booth, They Were Of course My friends.  
Yubie Of course Had Made It there Before Us. But There Were Three Other Figures That I recognized  
The First and The One The called This Meeting Was **Takashi Endo  
** He was A bit Of a Snob and Self Absorbed, But Has A determination that You Dont really See In Alot Of People These days. And I respected That.  
I Recognize Him From A mile away with His dark Blue Hair and Medallion On His sleeve.  
He was Wearing school Uniform Like Me and Ali But with A more Proper Look And  
"Ah Its About time You Two Showed Up! Its A crime to Make Someone Like Me wait!" He Said To us  
"Ya sorry, It was Kinda Hard to navigate Negative 15 degrees Celsius weather"  
I said But then Another Voice interrupted

"Actually... There Is No such thing As Negative Celsius, Nothing can go below zero On the Kelvin Scale."  
She Corrected  
The One Who Did so Was... **Ohsaka Matsushiba**  
She Was An Foreign student who we had Befriended, She was Cold And stoic At times But I could Tell She Meant Well  
She Had Bluish-white Hair Scheme With A Headband over her head and she always wore an orange small jacket  
"Thanks Professor" I said sarcastically back to her  
She scoffed and turned back to Her food

"Cael... Hows Your Wrist Doing?..." The Third Person asked  
That Third Person Was **Rhaja Al-Shira**  
She Was A Meek and shy Girl, She usually didnt say much but when she did she always Paused briefly After Each Sentence  
She Had Brown Hair and Was wearing A school Uniform  
I felt Bad Because I misunderstood before... But Now im trying to fix that  
"Its been Healing up Nice I reckon." I said  
"nice..." She Smiled And I smiled back

"I Hope That You all Have Gotten The Formalities Out Of The way, Now Then Lets Start this Meeting"  
Taka Stood Up And Then Looked At us all  
"We have alot of work to do..."  
I nodded and agreed, Destiny had its work cut out for us


	4. Noodles and Plans

Me and Ali Sat down at the booth with the rest of the gang, As More people started to enter the restaurant so We were kinda Forced To sit down  
It was An awkward silence though Around us as Taka had stood up but hadnt said anything. He looked deep in Thought  
Wishing to break the ice Ohsaka started by saying  
"so.. What Should we Talk about?" She asked  
"I was Getting to that." Taka Interjected  
(Yikes.. tense) I thought  
"Our strategy!" Taka said enthusiastically  
"What do you mean by That?" I asked,  
"Were In the Quarter Finals Of The tournament Its Likely That One of You Three Will Be facing Each other" He explained  
(Ah...) We Had All Entered The Tournament For The Money Which was 6 Million Neo city Credits,  
The six of Us had At least, But Now Their Were Only Three Of Us Left in The Tournament.  
Me, Yubie And Ohsaka Were The ones Left  
Ali And Rhaja Had Been Eliminated in The First Round And Taka In The Third  
"Were Bound To Face Each Other Eventually. So Whats The Big Deal?" Ohsaka Asked  
"The Big Deal Is That, We'll Only Have 1 Person Left In The Semi-Finals!" Taka Concluded  
"Taka, The Possibility That Two Will Face Each Other Is pretty Low, At Least in This round"  
I said, including The Other Finalist There Would be 8 Duelists So It's Only a 12.5 Chance That two Of us Will Duel  
"Ya maybe This Round We're Safe,But Next Round..." Taka  
"W-We'll Cross That Bridge When We Get To That" Ali Interjected  
"Ya Its Nothing For Us To Get too Worried About..."  
I confirmed, And It Maybe Procrastinating A bit But Who Really cares?

"well I think-" I was cut off by Something that made my ears curl  
*cling* The Sounds Of Clinging Bells Hit My ears  
"Oh no..." I recognized The Sounds Of Those Bells Of doom  
They Were Of Someone I Greatly Loathed  
"Please Dont tell me-"  
"Hai Hai!" The Girl Cartwheeled To Our Table

"Is That My Darling Cael?" The girl asked  
"Oh God.." I said Mortified  
The Girl Then smoothly Ran Over To Me and started To Hug me,  
I swiftly Tried To dodge but It twas Too late  
"Heehee Its So cute How You always Try To Avoid me Caely...!" She said As She Squeezed Tighter Onto Me  
" I avoid You Because Your Such A-"  
"Now Now! Dont Be Mean to your girlfriend Caely.. HaHa" Taka Teased  
*Giggle* The rest Of The Group Laughed too

I sunk Down Into The Cushion Sea  
This Girl Who Annoyed Me Was **Meimei Yang Liu  
** She Was Wearing A Pink and Yellow chinese Dress With Bangs In her Hair,  
meimei Had Freckles And Her Hair Color Was Black And Generally smaller Than The Rest Of us  
MeiMei For Some Wierd Reason Was Infatuated with Me, It started Out Kind Of Innocent But Now Its Annoying and repetitive

"Aiya?" She Then Took A Look At My Wrist, She Looked Visually Concerned  
"Oh No Is My Caely Hurt?" She worried  
"Yeah, Broke My wrist awhile ago" I said in reliance  
"Oh No! Do You Need Me To Lick For You?" she Said Wierldy  
"W-what Are You A cat?" I questioned and was taken aback  
"I Only Jest, My Love" She Said and Smiled  
(Love?) I thought  
*sigh*  
Taka Looking Visually Frustrated  
"Hey Maybe Why Dont You Get Us Some More Udon And Mein Please?" He Requested  
"Ah Right!" She Bowed respectfully And Whisked Away  
Meimei Was gone... Thank goodness

"That Girl Can Really Be Annoying And Troublesome sometime's" Taka Remarked  
"Tell Me about it" I replied  
"Anyway Where Were We?" Taka Tried To Remember  
"What we were... Going To Do... If 2 Of us Dueled Each other..." Rhaja Reminded  
"Right..." Taka Thought about this  
It Was Abit Silent For A couple of seconds as we all Thought about this new concept  
The Only Sounds Were The Loads of other people talking and Ohsaka's gum chewing  
"Well I think That If We Do End Up Dueling Each Other The Other 2 Should Try As Hard As They Can In The semifinals" I suggested  
Taka Smiled  
"Your Always an Optimist arent You Cael?"  
"I try" I said  
"But I really dont think we should Worrying about this right Now" I confirmed  
"Maybe Your right..."

"Udon Is ready!" Meimei Yelled Interupting Us  
She Then Rolled Back Into Our Booth, She Was Holding 2 Plates In Her Hands And Balancing 1 More on Her nose?  
"Impressive Right Caely?"  
"I guess...?" I replied  
"Now Then I'll Be Right Back With Your chow mein!" For The second time She Rolled Back Into The Kitchen  
(I swear.. She is so Wierd!)  
But Meimei Was The Least Of My troubles at the Moment

"Speaking Of Meetings..." Yubie said  
She Then Put A Envelope On the Table  
What it contained with be prevalent To My destiny!


	5. Letter Of Destiny

Yubie Slammed The Envelope Onto The Table And it shocked everyone  
"Oh wow an envelope... How exciting Yubie." Ohsaka said sarcastically  
"No you Aleck Sorceress . Its whats Inside The envolope!" Yubie Quipped Back  
She pulled Out of the envelope A Letter With Red Words scrambled on The top  
" TO ALL QUARTER FINALISTS"  
I just stared at the letter dumbfounded  
"Huh It must an invitation" Ali mentioned  
"Yes yes, But You Must read what's Inside of it, First!" Yubie Commented  
I Was A bit Hesistant at First But Then Reading it filled me with more uncertainty

It Read:

{Dear All Quarter Finalists  
I write to You As You 8 Are The Best Duelists Of This City  
And I want Congratulate You all For Making it This Far.  
And As Such Ive Prepared A Celebration In You all's Honor  
So Please, Lets all Have Dinner At My Mansion Tomorrow at 8:00  
From Your Tournament Host  
\- **Valor Von Aries** }  
The Letter Was short and to The Point, He wanted Us To Meet With Him at his Mansion

Ohsaka examined the Letter and said "This is Adressed to all Quarter finalists... Meaning We Likely Got It in the Mail Too" she explained  
"this Is a physical Letter..., Crap I guess I need to check My mailbox..." i said  
"Well We are In The 2070s Not like anyone still uses those" Taka said sarcastically  
Taka was Right, It wasnt typical for People these Days to send Envelope Letters These days  
"He Must Be a... very Old fashioned Guy... I respect That..." Rhaja Added  
(Huh, I guess I get the appeal Behind an Old fashioned guy) I thought

"With Being read And said, Are You three Going to this 'event?" Taka questioned  
"Of course!" I Answered  
"Well then, I guess that matter is settled then!" Taka Exclaimed  
We all agreed

And As We did I heard Meimei Rolling Back Into The Fray we Our chow mein  
It smelled Wonderful and delicious, If there was one good thing I could Say About this Place Is that the cooking is supreme  
"Aiya! Here's Your Meal's!" She said enthusiastically  
The Bowl of Chow mein was filled with a variety of meats vegatbles and rice  
It was truly delectable sight  
"Think About-it Caely If we Got married You'd Be able To eat this Everyday!"  
"Ya But Then I'd Be Married To You..." I said sarcastically back  
"You Know... One of These Days, Youll Apreciate me! Hmph"  
She stormed away  
Thank God Too, I really Was at My wit's end  
"You Know... Some Guys dream About Having A girl Like That." Taka Said  
"Shut Up taka"  
We All Laughed and continued to look on to the future

I was a bit curious and anxious of what was Coming, But destiny can Never be Wrong and Neither can chow mein!


	6. Home

*creek*  
The Door Of My House creeked Open.  
I had Walked Home From the restaurant And Was Walking Into my House  
My House itself was small But usually Got the job done of making me feel safe and warm

I Walked Into Dining Room Where Two Of The Most Important People Where Sitting  
My Sister Bonnie And My Mother  
"Big Brother!" Bonnie ran Towards Me  
"Hey Biscuit!" I hugged  
Bonnie Was 7 Years Old And Was Remarkably Cute For Her age  
She Had Pink Hair And Green eyes  
As A joke I called Her "biscuit", But It was a bit embarassing For me  
"Did You Have A good Day Today?" I asked  
"It Was awesome, Big bro!" She Replied

"Cael honey, You Shouldnt stay out so late!" My Mom Said  
"Sorry Mother..." I responded  
"Ha... What Am I going to do with You?" She worried  
My mother Looked Exactly Like Me, With her Brown Hair and Blue eyes  
She was In her late 30s and was a strong person Both physically and mentally  
She was my Paragon of kindness and A wonderful Mom  
"I Heard that the semifinals are coming up..., I'll Be cheering You On..."  
"Thanks Mother!" I said  
"Me too, Big Bro!" Biscuit Reaffirmed,  
The New Encouragement gave me Hope For My destiny  
"Anyway I made Dinner For The Three Of us."  
"Yay!" Biscuit cheered

The Dinner Table Was Set with Pork, Yams And Rice  
I Wasnt All That Hungry Because Of The Chow mein and ramen I had earlier, so It was basically a nuisance to eat again.  
But in order not to be rude I Had to force feed myself  
*munch munch* I chewed  
After thinking for a couple of minutes. this thought came to me:(I should Probably Mention The Gathering At The Mansion)  
"Hey M-mom Um Listen...?" I said  
"Yes?"  
My Mother Was Kind, But asking Her to go Out So Late Tomorrow still made me nervous  
"Well Um- There's A Meeting of the Quarter Finalists Tomorow and-"  
"Ah Yes... I did Get The Letter..." She interupted  
"And Cael I Think You Should Go To Their..."  
(what?) I thought  
"Why Not?"  
Mom Had A serious Look On Her Face Now...  
Bonnie Read The Mood on Went away "I-ill Get A toy or something!" She said as an excuse  
"This Valor Von Aries Person... Well He's Not A good Fellow To be Around..."  
"You Know Him, mom?" I asked or How Would She Know that?  
"Somewhat yes, He's an old... Friend Of mine" Mom Answered  
That shocked me. To Know that My Mom knew The Person Who Created and Organized the Tournament Was a bit unexpected  
But I still Pressed On  
"But If Your Intent on Going I wont stop you." My Mother Looked at me with a worrying glance  
I looked back But With conviction  
"I'll Be careful I promise..."  
After That It was a silent awkward dinner

After Dinner I Stepped Into The Family room Where I put My school stuff down and Laid down on the Couch  
And My Mind Drifted Off Into a Light Sleep  
I Just Wanted to put the stress of the tournament behind Me and move foward into a New Day Of Destiny


	7. Library

November 9th 2074  
It Was After school... And I was Inside at The Moment  
While It Wasnt As Cold Yesterday. It Certainly Wasnt Warm Enough To Heat An Ice cube  
My Wrist Tensed At The Cold, But I Didnt mind, Pain Was The Only Thing I Knew anymore...  
(Thanks Leonaidis) I thought  
Other Students Were Leaving To go Home But I Was Staying In school To Basically waste Time  
After all I had 3 Hours To go Before I had Attend The party So Why Even Bother Going Home?

I was in the school's library At The Computer Lounge  
The Room was In the Back Of the Library and Had few People in it  
It was only me and two Other people, But I didnt mind them  
I was Bored So I decided to Look up today's Headline's on The Main page of the computer  
It Was awkward trying to type Because My Left hand was immobilized but I managed to Press on  
There were three stories in fact:  
[ Valor von Aries invites quarter finalists to Mansion]  
[Meteor Showers Increase Outside of cities]  
[ 3 teens Go Missing In Northern Neo city]  
(yikes... That last one is pretty scary)  
But Beside's that The First one Interested Me The most.  
This Tournament must be getting hyped Alot, If This is News Worthy. But Then again Neo City Does love it's Dueling Tournament's even If It's Just The Teenagers League...

*Creek* The door Opened And someone peeked in  
"Ok Everyone I'll Be closing the Library In 10 Minutes so Please Finish Whatever Business You have and Log out ok? And Dont Anything wierd with each other in these 10 minutes okay?" The Librarian teased  
The school's librarian Was a tad bit wierd and she often stated odd things, But I just ignored her  
(great Now What'll do to pass the time?) I thought...  
If anything I could Just wander The school... Or See What Someone else is doing...  
Or Maybe talk to a teacher? (Nah That's boring)  
Those were the thoughts the persuaded Me.  
But I Had Another Idea...  
(Ah I could Organize My Deck...!)  
That Always tended To waste My time, I pulled out my cards from my loose pockets and Put them on table in front of me  
They Were My cards, My home, **My Friends  
** while Searching through my deck I pulled out my favorite card **Parallel warrior Zio  
** He was a strong warrior with 2500 Atk Points and reminded me of myself a bit  
(...) I reminisced about the duels i've won with this card and its impact on me in general.  
BUt I was interrupted By something or maybe someone...

*creek* The Door Opened Again  
"Ok Jeez. Im about to leave..." I said in retallion against The Librarian Who I sure was about to scold me again  
But It wasnt the Librarian.  
"hey." It was ohsaka  
I recognized that bored 'hey' Anywhere  
"Shouldnt You Be Heading towards The Mansion now? She asked me  
"We still got three hours..." I said to her  
"That's so like you... to Procrastinate till the end" Ohsaka said bluntly  
"H-hey!" I was offended and Triggered

Ohsaka looked at the table and got a curious grin  
"hmmm?" Ohsaka then turned her attention to my deck on the table  
She grabbed it and then smiled a bit  
"Hmm.. Parallel warriors, interesting decktype. cael" She commented  
"Really?"  
"Yeah it reminds of my Little brother's deck A bit, Full of strong warriors and knights." She reminsced  
(I forgot ohsaka had a brother) I thought, She doesnt really bring him up that often...  
"Ah thanks!" I replied  
Ohsaka then blushed " Sorry I shouldnt grab someone else's things without asking right?"  
"It's fine..., Your curious side is a bit cute..."  
She blushed again harder "You say really stupid stuff sometimes you know?"  
"Heh..."

*Creek*  
The Door Opened again  
"Im closing down the library in 2 minutes, so either leave here or stay here all night you perverts" She said to us  
What an odd thing for a librarian to say,  
But That was our cue to leave Me and ohsaka walked out of the Library and Headed to the mansion to hopefully Find Out why Von aries summoned Us!


	8. Forest of Lianna

"ARGH!, You'd Think someone As rich As von Aries Wouldnt Do something like this!" I said angrily  
I yelled, Me and Ohsaka had been walking around for About 1 hour and 30 minutes,  
His Mansion Was On the Complete Other Side Of Town And Since It Was Late No trains Had Been Operating.  
It had Been such a pain To Walk All The Way Here... My feet started to hurt and I felt my wrist becoming tenser  
Ohsaka was obviously get worn out too, She began chewing through gum like A dog chews a toy.  
"I cant Believe it either Cael... That His Mansion would Be on the complete other side of town!" She said angrily  
Is Von Aries just a sadist? Or is He just trying to Piss me Off? Or maybe Both...

But Regardless We were Close To the Mansion, We Were In A deep Forest With Tones Of trees, grass and bushes  
It was Very Dark Because It was Around 7: 20, And I was A Bit scared  
*Noises* I heard Noises Like Tree's and Bushes Moving  
"A-Ah" I Said Frightened  
"Cael Calm down, It's Probably Just A squirrel Or Something" Ohsaka comforted  
"Y-Yeah Your Right..." I said Back  
We Kept On Walking And I kept Hearing the bushes and trees rattle  
(I have A bad Feeling About This...) I thought  
And I was Right As Something Leeped From The Bushes and came Right In front of Us

*Growl*  
"Gah!-" I lept Back  
A Large Dog Poised Himself Right in front Of Us, He looked Ready To attack  
I Almost Instinctively, Clung to Ohsaka  
I was Deathly Afraid of Dogs, Almost To A Fault  
Ohsaka Wasnt Scared Though As She Stared Down The Aggressive Mutt  
The Dog Wasn't Scared Either Though As It Just continued to bark and growl  
*Ruff Ruff* It Was Obviously telling us to back off  
"O-Ohsaka I think W-We Should Just go..." I suggested  
"No, We Walked All The Way Here, Were Going To See This Through" Ohsaka said  
"umm" I looked Back At The dog, He Was Ready To Pounce  
*BARK*  
The Dog Finally got tired of the staredown and He charged At Us With The Ferocity Of A tiger  
I thought we We're done for, Death By Dog  
What A Tragic End To My Life

But we were Saved By The voice Of someone

"No Pietro! Bad Boy!" A girl's Voice said  
The Dog Stopped Right In its track's In front Of ohsaka's Feet  
*whine* It whimpered as it Stepped From ohsaka And I...  
"You can Let go Now." Ohsaka said To Me  
"Ah, Yeah Right..." I said awkwardly Back  
I blushed as I let go of ohsaka's side and gained My distance

The Girl Who saved us, Smiled In a Sort of Apologetic way as She was scratching the back of her head  
She Was Blonde Haired and Blue eyed, She Looked slighty Younger than  
She was wearing a formal yellow dress with roses In her Hair. she looked wonderful  
"Sorry About that! Pietro Is sort of Agressive, Hope He Didn't scare ya." She said  
"I-I wasn't scared" I was bluffing but It made me seem brave  
"Right." Ohsaka snarked  
(Shut up Ohsaka...)

"So You two Must Be The Champions Right?" She asked bubbly  
"Yeah" I answered "We're headed To Von Aries mansion, For his 'Gathering' "  
"Ah Wow Cool! I didnt Know Daddy Was Having More People Over" she said  
(daddy?) It suddenly hit me.  
"So Your-" I was cut off  
"Yup! Im **Lianna Von Aries** The Youngest and Prettiest of daughter Of Von Aries " She said e  
She Then Spun Around In a pose with her hands streched And winked at us.  
"..." We just stood their silent  
"what No Reaction? I knew I Shouldve Worked On my Poses A bit!" She scolded Herself  
"Can You Just show Us the Way to The Mansion Please?" Ohsaka replied Bluntly  
Although I didnt Agree Her Coldness, I sadly Nodded My Head  
"Fine Follow Me, But Dont Boss me Around Anymore Or I'll Use My Magical Girl Powers On you!"  
(I swear Im Getting Yubie war Flashbacks...)  
We All Walked Down The Forested Path

Lianna Pouted In A Playful Way  
"Geez, You Two Arent As Fun As The Other Two Guys Who Came Here Before...!" She said  
"So Two Other People Have Already arrived?" I asked  
"Yup! One Is Really Pouty And The Other Is Really witty And Sarcastic!"  
(This Other Guy Is Probably **Leonaidis )  
** Leonaidis was Very sarcastic and witty, he often Used to Get His way With someone, No doubt He wanted To Impress The Daughter Of Von Aries  
"So Who Is The Pouty Guy..." I asked  
"Oh I Forgot His Name, But He Looked Really weird...!"  
"What Do you Mean...?"  
She stopped In Her Tracks  
"we'll You'll Soon Know... Becauseeeeee We're Here!"  
She Pointed In front of Her

The Mansion Was Huge It Was At Least 25 Meters Tall And 40 Meters wide  
It Had A White And Blue color scheme, And The sides of Front Had Windows On it  
In Front Of the House Was A enormous Fountain With The Duel Monster "Blue eyes- White Dragon" Statue In It  
It Was Obvious THe Owner Was A fan Of Duel Monsters And Loved The Game  
Lianna Smiled "Welp, After You guys!"  
We Entered The Mansion And Our Destiny Awaited


	9. Mansion

"Woah" I said as I entered The Mansion  
I looked around at The Inside Of The Mansion and it Was Just as Grand As The Outside  
The Foyer Was all White, White roof,White Floor, White Pillars, White Everything. It was Almost Like A palace From Cinderella Or something  
The Only Thing That wasnt White Was A Chandelier Which Was All Gold  
And Of Course In The Middle at the end Was A stairway Which Was All Silver  
(Because why not at this Point) My Inner Middle Classness Was Getting Outraged!

"Pretty Neat Place huh?" Lianna Said  
"Its cool I guess..." I said  
"Hmph Ive Seen Better. But I guess I could At Least Check This Place Out" Ohsaka Replied  
Ohsaka Began To Walk Around A Bit, She Went Away From Us  
(Wait No Ohsaka- Dont leave me With Her!) I thought  
"hehe So... You Wanna Hear About My Magical Powers?" She casually Asked Me  
(Oh God) I thought "No Thanks Id-"  
"Great! So It All Began When I was 8 Years old..." She Ignored Me and Continued On Anyway  
(Oh God Im Going To Be Hear Awhile Arent I?)  
While I Understood Lianna's Imagination As She was Young I wasnt Really Interested In It...  
So I Did What I usually Did When Yubie Or Meimei Went Into Their Monologue's  
Just zone Them Out And Focus On Something Else...

I Looked Around And Saw Two People Just Like Lianna said  
I already Knew Who One Of them Was But I was More Focused On The Other  
He Had His Foot Against a Pillar And Was Leaning Against It  
' He Looks like Someone From One of Those Teen Drama Manga' And She Wasn't Kidding  
He Had Orange Hair With Spiked Hair And Was Wearing A brownish-orange Jacket  
He Had A Stubborn Look On His Face Like He Really Didnt Want to Be Here.  
(Guess He's another quarter finalist Like Me) I thought at the time

"Hey Are You Even Listening?" Lianna Asked  
"Um Yeah, Very Amazing Backstory You Have There." I replied Back  
"I Know Right! So Then I went to The-"  
I Continued On To Ignore Her

The Other Person Was... **Leonaidis Biancho**  
He Was Someone I knew Since Childhood And My Former Best Friend  
But After Waking Up From A coma For Several Years, He Had Changed Into A More Cold Distant Person, In Fact He's The Entire Reason Why My wrist was Broken  
Leonaidis Was Sitting Down On A Velvet Couch In the Back Of the room  
Leonaidis Was An Interesting Guy, At Least When it came to physicality  
He Had Pure Yellow Hair And Blue eyes, He Was Almost Perfect In every way Physically  
Leonaidis was wearing His Classic white Vest And White pants , If It Wasnt For His Yellow Hair I wouldnt be able to Tell Him Apart From Anything

He Was Shuffling Through His Deck, He Looked Bored...  
But Then He Noticed Me Looking at Him And Smirked  
"Ah!" I gasped and turned away, But It Was Too Late As He Began to Walk Over to Me And Lianna  
Each Step I got Nervouser and Nervouser as he Approached  
What Is He going to say?  
What Is He going to do?  
How Awkward Is this Going to Be?  
"So Then The Evil Witch Magoline Appeared And I-"  
Lianna Continued to tell Her Tall Tale And I just Anxious as Leonaidis Approached

"Hey You Two!" Leonaidis Said Enthusically  
"Well Then The Witch-" Lianna Stopped Her Wild Stories. Much to my Relied  
"Ah Leonaidis-!" She Said Excitedly  
"I Have To Introduce You To Cael! He's Like A Protagonist Of A shonen!" She Said  
Lianna Then Put Me And Leonaidis's Hands Together Awkwardly  
"Oh We've Met Before" Leonaidis Said Smugly  
"Yeah We've Met Before..." I said Back Even More Smugly...  
Lianna Blushed For Some Reason, I dont What Was Going On In Her Mind  
" _Hehe_... This Is Like My Favorite Yaoi Manga..."  
"A Yellow Haired Boy Meets A Brown haired One And They Kiss And-"  
Lianna Completely went into Her fantasy world  
(what The Hell Is she Talking about...?) I Thought

By This Point We Were Both Sick Of Lianna And Leonaidis Stepped In, So We Both Could Talk One On One  
"Hey Lianna." He Said  
"Huh?"  
"About Half Of The Champions Are Already Here! So Why dont You Get Your Valor?" He suggested  
"But Im Not Done With my-" She Was Interrupted By Leonaidis  
"You Said I Was Like A Protagonist Earlier Right? Well Isnt A Magic Girl's Duty To Help Him Out?"  
(ah, So That's How They First Interacted... Interesting) I Thought  
"But-" She was cut off  
"Listen, No One Likes An Annoying Secondary character... So Just go!" Leonaidis demanded  
Lianna Looked Disgruntled And Nodded Her Head  
"Your Right..." She Said Sadly  
I Think She Got The Hint And she Sadly Went Upstairs to the upper level  
Leonaidis's true colors were showing but they werent anything new To me  
It Was As If Destiny Had compelled Him to...


	10. Leonaidis

Lianna Walked Up The Endless White stairs until she was out of sight.  
I felt A litte bit Bad For Her, Sure She Was A bit Talkative, But Leonaidis Didn't Have To Shut Her Down Like That...

"I swear, Girls Like Her are One In A million right?" He said smugly  
"..." I was silent  
*sigh* Leonaidis Sighed Heavily as If He Pittied Her  
"But Sadly She'll Get A rude Awakening When She Realize's That Life Isnt Like One Of Her weird Japanese Novels" He said Shrugging  
"You didnt Have To Be Mean Like that, You Couldve Just Told Her we Wanted to talk alone..."  
"Meh, She wanted Have Gone Unless I was cruel."  
"..." I was silent again  
"And Besides, She's The Reason You Almost Had Your Panic attack Out there"  
"oh, You saw that?" I said Nervously. It was quite embarassing  
"Yeah, I wish I brought my Leo-device it wouldve Been quite the internet hit if I had recorded it"  
"Shut up" I said  
"I wouldve titled it: 'Wimpy teenage boy hides Behind girl as average sized dog barks at him' "  
(Jeez You dont have to be jerk about it)  
"back to what I was saying..." He Continued  
" I was The First One To Arrive You Know... I assume She Also Did The Whole 'Dog trick' With you guys?" Leonaidis said  
(What?)  
"So what Your She Faked That Whole thing Just to Rescue Us...?" I said  
That Was Suprising, Maybe That's why Ohsaka Wasnt fazed By it?  
"of course... What A simpleton that Lianna is..."

"Anyway..." He said Trying to switch The Subject  
"I assume Your wrist Is doing Ok?"  
"Your The Whole Reason its broken, You douche!" I said back Angrily  
I mean How dare He!  
"Now Now, You Were The One Who Fell Down Those Stairs" Leonaidis said  
*sigh* He was _Technically_ right, I lost the duel and Fell down The stairs Behind me as a result...  
"So Lets not Play The Blame game... And Talk About the future!" Leonaidis Lectured

Leonaidis Pulled Out A card From His Pocket  
It Was Called "future Visions"  
"You Know I have The Ability To **read hearts** And Predict the Future" He said  
(Here He goes With this Occult crap)  
That Was Another Dimension to Leonaidis, His constant gloating of His 'Abilities'  
I didnt Really Believe it, And Besides what does Any of That Crap Even Mean?  
"I dont really Believe In that crap Leonaidis"  
"You dont Have To... Just Let **fate** Do The Believing..."  
(fate?)  
"I dont Really think This Is the Time To Be Talking About This-"  
But Before Me And Leonaidis Could talk More, We Were Suddenly Interrupted By A Loud sound.

*Bang*  
It Was The Sound Of Door Busting Open As Someone Kicked it Open...  
"I HAVE ARRIVED MORTALS!" A loud Voice boomed Through the Hall.  
As soon As that Sentence Was Uttered I knew Who it was... Yubie  
I turned Around and Saw Her There, She Was Wearing A Long dress With A tiara On Her Head, It was A classic Move for yubie As She Saw Herself As royalty  
If It Wasnt Yubie I would Say She Was Cute...  
But Behind Her Was Someone I didnt Recognize,  
A girl With Purple Hair And Yellow Eyes, She Looked scared By Yubie's sudden Burst Into the door  
She Was Wearing A Flannel Jacket With A Wierd Insect Partner On it, She Didnt Look to wierd on Menacing Like The Guy Before..  
(Another Quarter Finalist) I Thought  
"Well I'll leave You and Your girlfriend To it, then" Leonaidis teased  
"The Idea That me And Yubie are like that, disgruntles me" I said to myself, Hoping she wouldnt Hear me  
Leonaidis went to the other side of the foyer, while Yubie walked Over To Me

"How did You Get Here Before me?"  
"I left with Ohsaka At 7:00, It wasnt easy to Get Here Trust me" I said  
"Surely You didnt Walk did You? I just Had My Butler just Drove Me here..." She said  
"Well Not all Us Have Rich Servants Below Them... Yubie"  
"Hmph, Life For You Peasants, Must Be difficult sometimes..."  
Yubie can Be Annoying But I was Glad she was here, At Least I have One ally In This Sea Of Adversaries.

After That Brief exchange, We Finally Got What We We're Waiting for all This Time  
We Heard footsteps coming from the second floor.

*tap tap tap*  
A figure Walked Across The Balcony Of the second Floor,  
It was Obvious Who It was, Mister Von Aries Himself...  
I Clutched My Teeth And Prepared for Destiny


	11. Von Aries

The Room Was Silent As Everyone Watched Von Aries go From The Balcony To The Top Of the Steps.  
Even The Guy Who Was Leaning On the Pillar Looked Up,  
But What I was stunned at was How He Looked...  
I expected A rich Guy In A business Suit With A monocle, But Von Aries Looked Kinda Normal  
Von Aries Looked Around 40 years old And Had A Purple Classical Trench Coat As If He had Been Outside Which I thought was Strange  
He has Pure White Hair And Dark Blue eyes, He Was quite Tall Much to My Amazement

There was Also someone right Next To Him Another Girl.  
She Had The Same Hair Color As Von Aries Only Slightly Darker. She was brushing it with a purple and black hair brush as she walked down.  
She was Probably around our age but slightly Older,  
(If I had to guess thats Probably Lianna's Sister) I thought  
The Logic fit, But I wonder where The Little scamp herself went.

"Sorry To Have Kept You All Waiting." He said with A grin, then Politely He bowed to us  
"But I Had some urgent business To attend to." He continued  
Von Aries Turned His head both directions Looking down on us as it looked he was counting how many of us were there...  
"hmm, Quite Curious, Only 6 Of The 8 Of You Are here..." Von Aries said  
"That Is Quite Troublesome", He said...

"Father, If I may Speak..." The Female said  
The girlHad Finally Spoken, She Then Looked at us all and then spoke our names  
" Cael Abel, Yubie Kattobin, Leonaidis Biancho, Ohsaka Matsushiba, **Azuma Tenkojin, Julia Cinest,"**  
(wow, She Memorized All Of our names...)  
Well At Least I know there Names Now... so then Logic dictates that The Guy Next to the pillar is Azuma Tenkojin.  
And The Girl By The Door Is Julia Cinest  
"Cinest..." The Name Sounded Familiar to me, But I didnt know why...  
Maybe I Just Had Deja vu?

Anyway, claudia Continued To Say:  
"First Of All, I would Like to Introduce Myself, I am **Claudia Von Aries** " She Bowed To Us  
" Im Pretty sure You've All Met My Sister..." She Said Jokingly  
Azuma Finally said Something "I swear If She Told Me One More Story About Killing A demon I Was Gonna..." He Stopped  
"Just Slaying A demon? Pfft Amateur." Yubie Commented  
"...Anyway The Reason Your All Here Is too Discuss The **Secret Prize** of this tournament And Very Nature Of This Tournament" Claudia explained  
She And Her father Then Began To Walk down The Long stairs

"But Since Your Not all Here... We're Sort Of In A Predicament..." Von aries explained  
"So We Have To until While Those Assholes Get Here?" Azuma Said Angrily  
"Confirmed, Were Missing **Neville Canigan** And **Pocah Tequilla** -"  
As If On cue The Burst The Door Burst Open Again  
*BANG*  
With Someone Rushing In As If In A panic

It Was Another girl, Except She Looked Different  
She Had dark Skin And Was Wearing A poncho, Her Hair Was dark black and braided  
She Was panting and Look terrified.  
"Dog *huff* Attacked *huff* Me..." She Said Panting constantly  
(Oh Yeah... Lianna didn't take Her Dog Inside Did She?) I thought  
"Well At Least thats one down..." I said to myself

Von Aries Smirked  
"You Must Be Miss Tequilla Right?"  
"Yes *huff*" She Said Trying To Catch Her Breath  
"Why Dont You Down milady?" Leonaidis suggested As He Walked Over  
He Gave Her His Hand And Walked Her To The Sofa He was Sitting on  
She Blushed As All Of This Happened  
"T-thank You..."  
(UGH!) I really Had Contempt For Leonaidis

"well Then. All We Need Is Mr. Canigan" Claudia Added  
"Great," Von Aries Clasped His Hands Together  
"Food Will Be Prepared Shortly, So please Be Patient, But In The Meanwhile, Your All Free To Do As You Please, Just dont break anything.." He said Jokingly  
He Walked Back Upstairs With Claudia...  
Von Aries Doesnt Seem All That Bad... For A rich Guy I guess  
But Man His Daughter Claudia. Seems Like the complete Opposite Of Lianna  
Cold And Straight To The Point, I dont dislike People Like That... But At Least You Could Lighten Up A bit For This event...

I meanwhile Just Walked Around Until Azuma Finally Said Something...  
"No Food, No Women, No Entertainment..., This 'event' Sucks!" Azuma Complained  
He wasnt wrong... I would've rathered Stayed Home.  
"Gosh, All Youve Done is Complained" Julia Added  
"What did you say?" He said back threateningly  
"N-nothing" She Said back  
Azuma Kicked The pillar Angrily.  
"Im So freaking Bored...I Probably shouldve Just stayed Home And Jerked it." He said jokingly (I think?)  
"Preach to That, _Except the last part,_ Anyone Have Anything to do while we wait?" I suggested

I dont even Really Know Why I asked that.  
We All Knew What We Wanted To Do For Fun.  
"Let's Have A duel...!" Someone Suggested  
It's In our Very Nature As Duelists To Want To Duel For Fun.  
And It's a part of Destiny.


	12. Battle Royale 1

"Let's have A duel...!"  
Hearing That Voice And Realizing It was Pocah Who Suggested It, Suprised me.  
The Petite girl rose up from the couch. It wasnt anything I didnt expect. If it wasnt her Who suggested I probably Would have  
But What Was Even Crazier Was What She Said Next...  
" A battle Royale To Be More Specific..."  
(A Battle Royale?) It sounded Interesting But I didnt know how It could work  
"*tch* A Battle Royale...? Sounds asinine!" azuma Exclaimed  
But All pocah Did Was Shake Her Head In disappointment  
"Well If You Could Let Me explain first...!" She said annoyed  
"Whatever..." Azuma replied

"Well In My Village It's Customary for New Friends To engage In A battle Royale To Test Their Bonds" She Hoped  
"We All Just met Literally Minutes Ago, And You already Consider us Your Friends?" I said...  
(Seems A bit Wierd,) I thought  
I wish Could Be As trusting as Pocah. But This world is to Cruel.  
"Ha.! All people are Friends To Me! Until they turn Into Enemies..." Pocah Said  
"Kind Of a dumbass Way To View The world..." Azuma Remarked  
"I think its Cute..." Julia Commented  
"Only A Pixie would think that way." Yubie added  
(There Are 4 Kinds of people In here...) I thought sarcatically

"So About The Battle Royale...?"  
"Right!" She said As She Back on topic  
"So It's Pretty self explanatory. We'll All Have Our Own Life Points and fields and we'll Duel each Other Simultaneously, The winner is the last duelist standing"  
Pocah explained.  
It didnt seem To hard to understand. After all We Are Fairly Competent I think...  
"Well Then. It Sounds Kick-ass. Im In!" Said azuma, Excitedly He Cracked His Knuckles  
"I'll Entertain You All For Awhile..." Yubie Grinned And Pulled Out Here deck  
"Im Always Up For A challenge!" Julia concluded

I smiled As I Sensed the Resolve In the Room, No Matter Our Differences We Were all True Duelists At heart.  
I pulled Out my deck and said:  
"I agree with Pocah's initiative. Dueling Is a Excellent to Bond and Learn about each other...!" I remarked  
And I wasn't Just talking about Friendship, This Was A legitimate Chance To Learn About The Other Player dueling style and combo's.  
So I couldnt Pass Up This Opportunity.

"Hey Leo, You In?" I Asked  
"Since when Was It ok to Call me Leo?"  
"And No- I didnt Bring My duel Disk... So I couldnt Even Duel Even If I wanted to." Hey explained  
That was Probably for the Best. Leonaidis Probably wouldve Destroyed us.  
"But Personally But Be Routing For You Pocah!" He said  
"O-oh Thanks" She Blushed  
(What A Con!)  
I ignored Leonaidis and pressed on to ohsaka  
"How About You Ohsa-"  
But I soon Realized That I was Basically talking to Air Because Ohsaka wasnt even There.  
"Your Little GirlFriend, Went 'exploring' Or whatever After Von aries Speech."  
(Ohsaka Jeez, You could at Least say something!) I thought angrily!

"Enough Talk! Lets Start Already!"  
I couldnt Have Agreed more  
We All Put On Our Duel Disks, Put In Our decks, Turned Them on...  
"Duel Mode Set! Field Materializing" A robotic voice said from our duel disks  
With Our Destinies Now Crossed And Ready To Test Our Might and strength  
The Five Of Us said The Classic Line:  
"Let's Duel!"We All then Spread out evenly in order to give us all some room.

"So Um... How Exactly Does The Turn Order Go?" Julia Asked Curiously  
"We'll Go Counter Clockwise Starting With Azuma And Ending At yubie" Pocah Explained  
(Interesting) I processed  
So the turn order would be...  
Azuma Then Julia Then Me Then Pocah And Finally Yubie  
"With That Settled Let's start!" I said  
We We're all revved Up And Ready to go, We Drew Our Five Cards And started the match

Azuma LP:6000  
Julia LP: 6000  
Cael LP: 6000  
Pocah LP: 6000  
Yubie LP: 6000

"Its My turn, I draw!" Azuma Said  
Azuma Smiled At The Card He Had Drawn  
"Read it and weep nerds, I'll summon Black Dragon's Chick!" He said  
He Placed The card down Violently on the duel disk and soon a monster appeared on the field

Black dragon's Chick  
Level 2  
Dark/ Dragon  
Atk 800 Def 500  
An Adorable Dragon Appeared Of An Egg, It Appeared To Be A baby And Not Fully grown. But that was About to change...  
"I activate it's Effect. I can Tribute It To Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon From My Hand...!" He exclaimed

(red eyes? Such An Old Monster..) If Taka Was Here He Would've Had A Nerd-gasm  
I was Bit amazed Myself to see the dragon in person...  
Red Eyes B. dragon  
Level 7  
Dark/ Dragon  
Atk 2400 Def 2000  
The Legendary Dragon Of Red Appeared! I still couldnt Believe That Someone Would Play such a classic Monster  
"Unfornately I cant attack You guys, because im going first"Azuma Explained  
"Turn End" He said

It was Now Julia's turn.  
"It's My Turn I draw...!" She Said  
She Spun Around As She Drew the card. I guess It Was For flare Or something But It Looked Really Dumb.  
It Almost made Me cringe

"I Summon Inzektor Centipede!" Julia Announced  
Inzektor Centipede  
Level 3  
Dark/Insect  
Atk 1600 Def 1200  
A Man In Wierd Bug Armor That Looked Like A centipede Appeared...  
He Had A large Claw And A helmet too.  
"Now it's Effect Activates!"  
"I can Equip An 'Inzektor' Monster From My Hand Or Graveyard To it!"  
She Equipped Inzektor Ladybug to it  
Inzektor Ladybug  
Atk 500 def 100  
"Centipede Gains atk Equal to the Atk and def Of the Monster equipped, so In other Words It'll Gain 500 attack and 100 Defense!" She Said Hyped up  
The Monster Screeched As Now It Had A Ladybug Dagger stuck On Its hand. It Looks Like It was Forcibly Welded to His Hand

Inzektor Centipede  
Atk 1600+500= 2100 Def 1200+100=1300

"Disgusting I hate Insects, Their Unworthy For My Beautiful Eyes" Yubie Commented  
"It's Freaking Volatile" azuma replied  
(I Didnt think He Knew A word Like that...) I thought  
"It's Just apart Of Nature Tehe" Julia Chuckled  
"Anyway... I'll Equip A spell Card to it! Inzektor Crossbow - Zektarrow"  
"It Gains 500 More atk!"  
Inzektor Centipede  
Atk 2100+500= 2600  
"Shit! It's More Powerful Then Red-eyes" Azuma Realized  
Julia Laughed "Bingo!"

Then Her Monster Attacked Red Eyes  
It fired It's Crossbow at the dragon Impaling it through it's jaw  
*ROAR* It cried Out  
"Dammit!" Azuma said  
Azuma Lp: 5800

"I Think I've Done Enough For Now. I'll Only set a face Down And End my turn" She cued  
It was now my turn and I was ready to rock.

I Smiled And Drew My cards  
It Was Now My time.  
My Time To Shine, My Time To Duel  
My Time To Present Destiny!

* * *

"Alright It's My Turn!" I Said Confidently  
I Drew My card and started On with my turn.  
I Had 6 Cards In My hand, All Which Helped In My Situation  
But the Most Important Cards To me We're My Parallel Warrior Cards,  
To Me they Were like My Other Group Friends And Allies.

Parallel Warrior Adventurer  
Parallel warrior Kunai Knight  
Giant Trunade  
And Several Other cards  
The Obvious Thing I had To Do First Was to Get Rid of Julia's Equips.  
Giant trunade Would Help with that, But then I would Need to go the offensive...

"First I'll Summon Parallel Warrior Adventurer!"  
I Placed My Monster on The Duel Disk  
A Conquistador Like Hero Appeared With A red cape Short Bow And Fedora Hat.

Parallel Warrior Adventurer  
Level 4  
Earth/ Warrior  
Atk 1650 Def 1500

"His Special Effect Lets Me special Summon A Warrior type Monster From My Hand!" I said  
"I'll Summon Parallel Warrior Kunai Knight!"  
A Knight With Two Short Blades Known as Kunai Appeared. He had on classical Medieval armor and a serious look on his face  
Parallel Warrior Kunai Knight  
Level 3  
Wind/Warrior  
Atk 1200 Def 1000

I smiled  
"Kunai's Effect Activates! All of Us draw 1 Card and Then discard Another From Our Hand!"  
We All Drew and Discarded.  
But Kunai Knight Had Another Effect, If I Drew Another Parallel warrior I could Special Summon it from my hand  
"... Yes!" I said to myself  
I had drawn Parallel warrior Spearmaster!  
"Now I can Special Summon From My Hand! Come On Out spearmaster!" I Commanded  
A Man In red Chainmail Armor Was Summoned On to Field  
He Had A spear That Was Longer Than My Body And Larger than an Average Spear  
Parallel Warrior Spearmaster  
Level 4  
Earth/Warrior  
Atk 1800 Def 1600

"Impressive, I didnt Think A worm Like You Could Manage Such Combo's" Yubie Commented  
"Thanks...?"  
Any compliment From Yubie Is a bit malignant For me  
"But Im Not Done Yet!" I affirmed  
"I activate A Spell! Giant Trunade!"  
A Hurricane Like Wind Burst Through The foyer Of The Mansion.  
Even though It was Holographic and not real I still Had The Urge To Grab Onto something.  
"It Returns All Spells And traps To The Hand..." I struggled to say.  
Julia Equipped Monster technically counted As Spells/traps while They were In the Spell and trap zone So they Returned To Her Hand.  
"Oh no!" She said Playfully

Inzektor Centipede  
Atk [2600] to [1600]

"Now i'll Attack!"  
"Spearmaster Squash That Centipede!" I commanded  
Spearmaster Charged At The Inzektor. it impaled it's spear right through his abdomen causing a screech throughout the foyer.  
Julia Lp: 5800  
"Now Adventurer Attack Her Directly!"  
He Leveled And Shot his Bow At her Causing her to flinch in fear  
Julia Lp: 4150  
Now I had to Focus My Attention on someone else, More specifically azuma. His Red eyes could Be threat So I decided to lower his life as much as possible for now

"Kunai Knight! Attack... Azuma Directly!"  
I had Decided Now To Azuma In order To Get them both Down by Little Bit so I wouldnt Have to Later  
"Oh Screw you Man!" He Said Angrily  
"Dont take It Personally!" I said Back Jokingly  
Kunai Through His two blades at Azuma, but He didnt even react and just scoffed  
Azuma Lp: 4600  
"I End My turn "  
I said  
My First Turn was Pretty good I cleared Both Azuma's And Julia's Monster's and Fields Which meant it was easy-goings for me  
But Now I had to worry About Pocah And Yubie.  
Hopefully they wouldnt Be To Much of a threat.

"May The God's Smile on me! I draw!" Pocah Said  
"Woo... Go Pocah!" Leonaidis cheered  
He was obviously just playing with pocah but she didn't catch on and blushed anyway  
"T-thanks"

"I cant Do Much... So i'll Just summon Naturia Spiderfang and End My turn"  
Naturia Spiderfang  
Level 4  
Earth/Insect  
Atk: 2100 Def 400  
"I cant attack this turn due to It's effect... So I have to end... I'll Just set one card" Pocah Frowned and ended her turn  
"You'll Get them Next time!" Leonaidis cheered  
"Y-Yes Right!" She Replied  
I did Not get why Pocah Would even entertain the though of being interested in Leonaidis

"The Time Of the True Empress has come...!"  
It was Now Yubie's Turn  
She Drew Her card And Activated A card From Her Hand  
"I'll Activate 'gagaga wind'! It Summons Forth A 'Gagaga' Monster From My hand!"  
Yubie Placed A monster Her Duel Disk All Dramatic Like...  
The Monster Was cleary A spellcaster With it's Tipped hat And a Chain FLoating around it.  
"Gagaga Magician Appears!" Yubie Said  
Gagaga Magician  
Level 4  
Dark/Spellcaster  
Atk 1500 Def 1000

"Now I'll Normal summon His Apprentice, Gagaga Girl!"  
A small teenage Looking girl Appeared with the same outfit as Gagaga magician.  
Gagaga Girl  
Level 3  
Dark/Spellcaster  
"So Kawaii~" Julia Commented  
"I Know Right?" Yubie said back  
"Now I'll Activate Her Effect! She Becomes The Same Level As Gagaga Magician!"  
Gagaga Girl  
[Level 3] To [Level 4]

With Both Monster's At Level 4 It Was Obvious what Yubie What Yubie Was Going To Do!  
An **Xyz Summon**  
Taking Two Monster's With the same level and Overlaying them To Make A new One...  
It was A very odd Summoning mechanic to me  
(I'll Just stick to fusion's...) I thought  
"I'll Take These Two Magicians And overlay Them!"  
A Shining Vortex Appeared On The Floor.  
Gagaga Magician And Gagaga Girl Formed into Two Bright Shining Orbs Of Light  
They Flew Into The Vortex Causing A Beam Of Light Of Come Out.  
The Xyz Summon had Been Succesfully Performed And Now A new Monster Came Out

"Come Out! Gagaga Samurai!" Yubie Commanded  
Gagaga Samurai Was A Japanese Warrior Truly, He Had On The Classical edo-era Armor With A ponytail Haircut.  
All With A cool Looking EyePatch  
Gagaga Samurai  
Rank 4  
Earth/Warrior  
Atk 1900 Def 1600

"You Fools Have Seriously Underestimated Me!" Yubie Lectured As She Pointed to All of Us.  
"Now Gagaga Girl's Other Effect activates! When She's Used As An Overlay Unit, one of your Monster's attack point's is changed to zero!" She explained  
Naturia Spiderfang  
Atk [2100] To [0]  
"Huh? Why Mine?"Pocah Asked  
"Because Biggest Fucking Monster On the field!" azuma Commented  
(Why is this Guy So Vulgar?) I thought

"Now I'll Have Gagaga Samurai Attack Spiderfang! Use Gagaga Force Slash"  
Gagaga Samurai sprinted to spiderfang, then slashed it into pieces  
Pocah Lp: 4100  
"Gagaga Samurai Can Attack Twice! By using an overlay unit!"  
One of the Shining orbs disappeared into One of his swords  
he Then Turned To me.  
*gulp* I panicked  
"Now Attack Parallel Warrior Kunai Knight!"  
Kunai Knight Was Also turned to mere slices of Meat by the time gagaga samurai Was done with him.  
Cael Lp: 5300  
While The Loss Of Kunai Knight Was tragic, But Not What I mainly had to worry About at the time.  
As a True Beast Would Appear Next.

Status:  
Cael Lp: 5300  
Pocah Lp: 4100  
Yubie Lp: 6000  
Azuma Lp: 4600  
Julia Lp: 4150


	13. Battle Royale 2

Yubie Stood there Proud Of What she had Accomplished. She Adjusted Her Hair And Ended Her turn.

"If Only I had my True Darkness, You All Wouldve Been Finished By Now!" She Said  
(Please Stop...) I thought, Yubie could be so Cringe-worthy sometimes...  
(hmm)  
But I was confused about something... Alot of Her Move's this turn we're Questionable?  
I mean Julia And Azuma We're Wide open, Why didnt she attack them?  
And why Xyz summon gagaga samurai? She definitely has stronger xyz monsters Like utopia or Her Satellar Knight's.  
Also Why did she attack me instead of attacking Pocah Again?  
But I didnt have time to think about Because it was Azuma's turn.

"Back to me! I draw!" He said  
He smiled A devious One.  
"It's time For A true Dragon to Appear!"  
"Earlier with Caels Kunai Knight's effect I discarded A monster, More specifically My Frickin awesome Red eyes Wyvern!" He explained  
"By Banishing it, I can Summon A red eyes From My graveyard!"  
He Removed the monster from the game  
And Placed the Red eyes Black dragon from his graveyard on the duel disk.  
Red eyes Appeared from the grave Like a phoenix from the ashes

"But the Carnage isn't over yet!" He taunted  
"I activate **Polymerzation** "  
(Polymerzation?)  
He's Going To Fusion summon?  
Im More Experienced when It come's To That, Rather Than xyz Summoning.  
"Now i'll Fuse Red eyes B. Dragon With Summon skull"  
The Archfiend summon skull appeared and then disappeared Into the fusion vortex.  
So did red eyes.

"A True Beast Appears! Come Out Black Skull Dragon!" He said  
The Monster That appeared truly was a fusion.  
It had red eye's Body shape But summon skull's appearance,  
He Had bones around his body like summon skull  
And Dragon's horns and feet like red eyes.  
Black Skull Dragon  
Level 9  
Dark/ Dragon  
Atk 3200 Def 2500

"What Do you guys Think? Pretty Fuckin Sweet right?" He sweared at us  
"out Of all The Dragon's ive seen That One probably take's the cake" Julia Said  
"And Probably ate it" Pocah Continued  
(That Joke was so bad...) I thought  
"I've seen Bigger" Yubie Mocked  
Azuma Just scoffed and carried on  
"Just For that i'll Be Attacking Your Monster!" He Remarked  
"Black Skull dragon! Destroy Gagaga Samurai!" He commanded  
The Monster Breathed A continous stream Of fire That Incinerated Gagaga Samurai.  
Yubie Looked Disgruntled But that was to be expected  
Yubie Lp: 4700

"Now I'll end my turn, Hope you can keep up julia!" He taunted  
"Of course!" She Accepted His Challenge!  
"I draw!" She said as she did a twirl  
"Are the theatrics really necessary?" I asked sarcastically  
"Yes" Julia and Yubie Answered together.  
(I swear im surrounded by Weirdest People!)

"I activate Monarchs Stormforth!"  
A spell card which depicted a giant being Summoned was activated.  
I already Knew What the card did, it lets you tribute summon a monster by using your opponent's monster  
But julia Explained anyway and azuma's reaction was expected  
"Freakin Bullshit...!" Azuma said  
"By Using Your Black skull dragon, I can Tribute Summon my Inzektor giga-cricket!"  
Inzektor Giga-cricket  
Level 5  
Dark/Insect  
Atk 2000 Def 1300  
The Monster was just her previous inzektor monster's except more cricket like, Obviously  
It Had Drills for a weapon unlike the other one.

"Now it'll Pocah Directly!"  
"Really me again?" Pocah Sighed  
Inzektor Cricket Charged at pocah with its drill spinning it had a bloodthirsty Look on it's face And Pocah was frightened  
"Gah!"  
Pocah Lp: 2100  
Pocah cried out, I felt bad for her because She was kinda being singled out.  
It's not her fault that she got a bad hand... But that's just the nature of the game.  
"Haha! I'll end my turn" Julia Announced

Even though I felt bad for pocah, That would spare her from me and my deck  
Pocah's Life points we're ridiculously Low compared to the rest of us all it would take was One good attack and she would be finished.  
And Luckily I drew Just The card to finish her off.  
" I Tribute Both Parallel Warrior adventurer and Parallel Warrior Spearmaster to Summon **Parallel Warrior Zio!"**

"I tribute Summon Parallel Warriro Zio!" I said  
Both Adventurer and Spearmaster Vanished and were replaced by a newer more Greater Monster.  
Zio Was A Tall man with An Overcoat, He Had A long Sword And A mask  
And was black all over except his mask which was a metallic color.  
He Looked Like Some sort of Hero from legend, At least to me!  
Parallel Warrior Zio  
Level 7  
Dark/Warrior  
Atk 2500 def 2000

"Let's get Right into The Action! Parallel Warrior zio Attack Pocah Directly!" I commanded  
Zio Charged at her with his divine blade, it imbued was With Lightning as it began to strike at pocah.  
Pocah frowned and said:  
"You Guys Really Dislike me huh? Well then I guess I'll Have to get serious"  
(It's not personal) I thought, Seriously why do these champions take dueling like this?  
"I activate A trap card! Wall of Disruption!"  
The trap card flipped open and was revealed. It displayed a demon trapped against a mystical wall.

"Your Monster Loses 800 For each Monster You Control!"  
I only had one monster so it would only lose 800 Atk...  
(That's simple I guess...)  
Parallel Warrior zio  
Atk [2500] to [1700]  
Pocah Lp: 400  
(So Pocah Survived this turn... But she Wont next time!) I swore  
"I end my turn!" I said  
Now it was pocah's turn and she was ready.

"May the great Spirit bless me! I draw...!" She said with hope and prayer  
Pocah drew a card from her deck and smiled at the card she Had Drawn.  
"I activate Monster Reborn! to Summon My Spiderfang From the graveyard!"  
The Cute spider from before had reappeared from The graveyard.  
it Looked even more steamed than before...  
"Then I'll summon Naturia Pumpkin from my hand!"  
Naturia Pumpkin  
Level 4  
Earth/Plant  
Atk 1400 Def 800  
"His effect activates! I can Special Summon a naturia monster from my hand!" She explained  
"I summon Naturia Cherries!"

Naturia Cherries  
Level 1  
Earth/Plant/Tuner  
Atk 100 Def 100

(A tuner?) That obviously Means she's going to synchro summon.  
Synchro's are Semi-familiar to me. My mother use's them Alot and she taught me everything about them.  
"I tune Level 1 Naturia cherries and both level 4 naturia pumpkin and naturia spiderfang!" Pocah announced  
1 ring Appeared in the air, that represented the tuner's level.  
Spiderfang And pumpkin went through it and morphed into 8 shining orbs, which represented their levels  
1 + 4 + 4= 9

"Synchro Summon! **Naturia Leodrake**!"  
Naturia Leodrake  
Level 9  
Earth/Beast  
Atk 3000 Def 1800  
"Jesus Fuck, That thing is Huge!" Azuma commented  
He wasnt wrong, Naturia Leodrake towered over the other monsters... I  
t was a huge lion with a mane of Plants And A rose for a tail  
It truly symbolized Nature's wrath and fury.  
" That monster is Truly Beautiful Pocah!" Leonaidis Complimented  
"I-I know right...?" She said shyly back  
(I dont know what im watching, But I hate it)

"N-Now I'll Attack Cael's Parallel Warrior zio! Maim him leodrake!" She ordered  
Leodrake meerly roared as it pounced towards zio...  
It's majestic mane swayed as it tossed around zio in it's mouth and maimed him...  
"Zio no!" I Said in discomfort!  
Cael Lp: 4000  
"I end My turn, Just pray that You all can stand up to my beast!" Pocah wished  
It wouldnt Be Impossible to destroy... but... That monster is Pretty Powerful...

"That Beast is nothing compared to The true power of Yubie Kattobin!" She bragged  
"I draw...!" she drew her card and then smirked at it  
Yubie began to shake And tremble, She was obviously acting.  
"I cant believe this.. I've drawn The Card to end this all!" She Said  
she Began To Laugh.  
"HAHAHA!" Yubie Laughed  
Leonaidis snickered and Said:  
"Cael, Control your girlfriend." Leonaidis teased  
"S-Shut up!" I said back

"This is the End for All of you! I activate The Spell 'Magical Sky Mirror'!"  
The spell depicted a mirror with a cartoonish hand.  
"It lets me activate a spell that was Used Last turn! I chose Monster reborn!" She said  
"I'll Bring my servant, Gagaga magician back!"  
Gagaga magician reappeared on to Yubie's field.  
"Now i'll normal summon satellarknight vega!"  
a shining knight with the air of the cosmos Materialized.  
Satellarknight vega  
Level 4  
Light/Warrior  
Atk 1200 def 1600  
"With his effect I can Special summon another satellar knight monster! Come on out cosmic Warrior, Satellarknight siriius!"  
Satellarknight Sirius  
Level 4  
Light/Warrior  
Atk 1600 Def 900  
With three level 4 monsters on the field, it was clear what yubie was going to do...

"I hope your all Ready for your repentance! I'll xyz summon using these 3 monsters...!" She said  
The xyz vortex appeared in the ground and her three monsters all went inside of it.  
I was scared of the possible monster which could come out of it...  
And I wasnt wrong to be.  
"I summon the Hero of the other world, the champion of the future, The excalibur of the swo-"  
"Just summon the freakin thing already" Azuma interupted  
"Hmph fine, Since your so eager to die!"

"I summon **Utopia one!** "

Utopia one  
Rank 4  
Light/Warrior  
Atk 2501 def 2000  
Utopia one Looked Like A literal knight in shining armor.  
it was yellow and white And had a huge core in the middle of it's Chest  
"Any Final words, Peasants?"  
"I think your Bluffing Yubie" I said, she always bluffed before what was stopping her now?  
"Yup! This cutie is probably trying to trick us with her cute face!" Julia concurred  
(Did she just call yubie cute?) Weird thought.  
"I wish i was bluffing... But unfornately not! Your all going to The shadows!"

"I Activate Utopia one's Effect!"  
Utopia one's overlay units all disappeared into it's core and Utopia itself began to glow.  
"This is the end! Utopia one destroys all of your foolish monster and inflicts to everyone equal to their attack points!" She explained  
"WHAT!" we all said collectively!  
But we didnt have time to even understand what was happening  
As utopia one's core glowed and fired a laser that destroyed all of our monster's and fired upon us.

Azuma Lp: 0  
Julia Lp: 0  
Cael Lp: 0  
Pocah Lp: 0

We we're all shocked at the Outcome.  
But destiny doesn't do shocks or surprises it just make's due with what we have and Twists our expectations.


	14. Afterward

Although I had just lost I Could still Feel That Passion that Everyone had while Dueling, They Really are worthy of The title Of champions.  
"Man That's so cheap and overpowered..." Azuma said sorely  
"HAHAHA! Now you Peasants Know not to underestimate My power...!" Yubie relished in her victory, I still couldnt believe that yubie had won...  
" I agree with Azuma, That was kind of A cheap victory." Julia concluded  
"Hmph, You Idiots would think that" Yubie reacted.  
(Meh, A victory is A victory to me No matter how cheap it is) I thought  
but that being said. yubie must be getting better at this game...  
In fact she planned that whole thing from the beginning...  
She didnt attack azuma on her first turn because she wanted to get my life points low enough for utopia one's effect...  
(Clever girl) I thought

"That was A marvelous duel, You all...!" Pocah Congratulated  
"Would have been better had I won, But whatever! Im happy for you all! You were all so adorable when you dueled!" Julia said  
"Man You people are so weird, but yeah... It was a good duel.!" I said  
it was great to hear that everyone had a great time.  
But I was even more happier to hear what happened next.

*Bang* * Bang* * Bang*  
The door banged with ferocity of a wild boar. It was clear someone wanted to get in.  
*BANG BANG BANG* three more Hard knocks were heard from the door.  
Someone obviously wanted us to let them in. They sounded like they we're really desperate too.  
"I got it!" I went up to the door cautiously and slightly Turned the Knob.  
"Shit!" A person came in running in said.  
They quickly turned around and Slammed the door behind them.

I got a good look at the Guy standing there.  
He was wearing a Fur cap and a purple jacket  
He was kinda shorter and smaller than the rest of us.  
His hair was black and his eyes were blue. He overall had this vibe of "wildlife" Like he was some sort of young Forest ranger.  
"*pant pant*" He was panting frantically  
"Let me guess... You were attacked by A dog?" I voiced  
"Im... Usually... good with animals... But that dog Was raised by the devil! I swear!" He said  
(I know...)

I realized that this person was the 8th **Champion** we we're missing this entire time.  
" So I take it your Neville canigan" I asked  
"Confirmed sir, that is my name" He replied, he came across as very orderly and conductly  
Azuma Looked This way, And began to lay into neville  
"Dude fucking finally...! We've been waiting 10 hours for Your ass!" he said  
"S-sorry" Neville apologized  
"Hey-" I was going to talk to neville and learn more him, when I  
was suddenly interrupted By a Clapping sound.  
Von Aries and His daughter had come back for us.

*Clap Clap Clap*  
Claps we're heard Upstairs. It was clear that it was von aries, He had finally come back for us.  
Von aries Stepped down From the upper level, This time with both claudia and lianna,  
Lianna was a bit Sadder but she looked alright For now.  
Claudia had the same stoic face, She didnt look all that amused.  
"Truly Marvelous You all! That Game was spectactular!"  
Von Aries looked around and chuckled.  
"And Now We have all 8 champions here! Truly Wonderful!" He grabbed himself in playful Euphoria  
"Can we Just get our Food already?" Azuma asked  
"Oh my, Impatient arent we?" Aries teased  
"But I wont keep you all waiting...! Follow me you all!" Aries said

Von aries and his two daughters walked To the Left of the stairway.  
I was Perplexed at Where This event was even going,  
What are We doing here?  
What Is the Purpose of this party?  
Is this Even Related the Tournament?

I guess I can only find out by Going up those stairs?

Just as I was about to get up those stairs and answer those questions. Something interupted me.  
"Cael-" someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.  
"AH!" I jumped, I was still a bit rattled after That Encounter with Lianna's mutt  
"..." she was silent, She stared at me in contempt  
"Oh, It's just you ohsaka..." I said in relief.

"Anyway, I just want to give You something...!" She said  
(Something?) I questioned  
Ohsaka Reached into Pocket and Gave me something.  
It was an oddly shaped object with gift wrap all over it.  
"Is this-"  
"Yes, It's a gift from me." She interjected  
"uhh..." I didnt know what to say, I just turned my head away in embarassment.  
I covered my hand with my mouth in order to hide my embarrassed face

"A-Are you sure this is the most Appropriate time to be Doing like this?"  
"Probably Not, But I just wanted to show my gratitude." She Replied  
Ohsaka turned away and walked up the stairs leaving me completely in awe.  
(D-Does ohsaka Like me?) That thought raced into my head  
I never A girl be interested in me...  
(Well beside's meimei) But thats more of A Dumb schoolgirl crush if anything.  
And I dont really like meimei All that much...

"Stop standing there dipshit, Come on!" Azuma yelled from the top.  
"Sorry..." I said back  
I Went Up the stairs not only to the delicious food, But also to my destiny!


	15. Dinner of Destiny

The room we entered was On the second level and to the left of all the Bedrooms,  
It was an all white room with a Large dinner table in the middle With all kinds of foods and dishes on it.  
Plates with Turkey,Chicken, Corn, Biscuits, Rice,Sushi,Macaroni, Etc, were all lined up and down the table.  
Their were also shelves and shelves of expensive china and antiques. If taka was here he would have a field day.

Von aries, Lianna and claudia were all sitting at the end of the table.

"heh, All of this, For us?" Julia said  
"Anything for the best of the best." Claudia replied as she smirked at Julia  
(Good thing I didnt eat before this...) I thought  
"Well then My champions, please have a seat!" Aries advised

We all sat down in descending order, we all sat across from each other.  
Pocah and Azuma sat down across from each other, with Pocah on the left and azuma on the right  
Leonaidis And Yubie Were in the second most seats, Pocah was on the left and yubie on the right.  
Me and Julia sat down in third row, I was on the left, julia on the right  
And finally Ohsaka and Neville sat down ,with ohsaka on the left on neville on the right.

"An Esteemed Dinner for me... This is acceptable For a Empress of Darkness like me." Yubie Boasted  
"..." Leonaidis who was across from her, Groaned and looked at Pocah.  
"Pocah, Darling... Will you please switch seats with me." He asked her.  
Blushing and flustered she Replied: "S-Sure."  
Leonaidis and pocah got up and switched there seat's. I Thought It was kind of funny that yubie could put off people like that.  
But nonetheless we all began to eat the lubricious food.

"Yes! I've been starving" Neville said as he began to dig into the food.  
"Wait! Before we start we must Give a prayer to the Spirits-"  
"Screw that! lets just eat already!" Azuma interjected And ate.  
"Hmph." Pocah pouted.  
"Can we just eat? Hehe, I want to see all your cute faces stuffed!" Julia added  
"Are you Just some kind of wierdo?" Azuma asked  
"So what if I am?" She responded back, Azuma stared julia down menacingly.  
"Now Now, Lets just Get all along and eat shall we?" Von Aries Interjected

Everyone except neville Who had already started Eating, Dug into the Gracious amount of food that there was on the dining table  
I Just had a small plate But enough To make Me feel Like A full Great Champion.  
After about 10 minutes of Eating and small talk we all Looked satisfied.  
Except For the One person whose Been causing trouble this whole night...

Azuma finally snapped and rose up from his chair and yelled:  
"All Right! Spill it Old man, What's This 'Secret Prize' You've been hiding?" Azuma said  
Von aries grinned and said:  
"Fine, Fine The secret prize is... The right to marry my daughters..." He said  
(uhh... He's Joking right?) I thought  
"Very Funny, Im serious" Azuma Responded  
(Phew... If I had to spend the rest of my life with Lianna... I'd..) I didnt want to imagine that fate.  
"Daddy Dont make Joke's like that, The People here are big meanies..." Lianna also responded.

"Ok then! i'll answer your question Seriously... The Prize is... **A new type of card.** "  
(A new type of Card?) I thought  
"A new type of card?" Azuma started laughing  
"Ha! whatever... it's been years since A new Type of Card has appeared." Azuma said  
"*Sigh* It's only natural You wouldnt believe me, You kids have grown up with rituals, synchros, fusions and xyz summonings." He said.  
It was true. All of those had existed when I was born, and There hasn't been anymore New summoning methods since xyz were introduced in the 2030s.  
"Well... I say put up or shut up-" Azuma was interupted

"So your saying you invented A new type of card?" Leonaidis remarked  
"Invent is sort of A subjective term... It was already Invented, Just never released to the public" Von aries explained  
"But why...?" I asked  
"For fear it was too powerful..." He said  
(Too Powerful...?)  
"If it's too Powerful why release it now then?" Ohsaka Responded, Von aries just smirked and said:  
"You all ask alot of questions... But I've already said too much at this Point."  
He said as He began to take a drink of wine.  
"Can we *munch* At least Get A *name*" Neville asked as he was stuffing his face.  
I dont think we expected an answer but von aries gave us A shocking one.

" **Pendulums.** " He said bluntly, His demeanor changed To A more serious one.  
"Pendulums? Like the Mechanism in clocks?" Ohsaka said  
"Yes, It suit's what They do and where they come from." Von aries said  
(do they?) I questioned, it seemed odd That A new type of summoning would not only exist but also be named that...?  
"Sounds Like bullshit" Azuma said  
"Yeah I dont believe it either" Neville agreed  
I could that half of the people in this room didnt believe von aries.  
I was indifferent, Without proof of such a thing existing I couldnt really believe it, But then again there no proof IT doesnt exist either...

Von aries chuckled  
"You don't have to Believe me."  
He stood up and clasped his hands.  
He went to the other side of the large dinner table with neville and ohsaka

"But now that I've done something for you all I want you all to do something for me" He coerced  
Von aries Looked at all of us, He Grinned and closed his eyes  
(What is he doing?) I wondered  
"... I want you all to Look at the person across from you."  
"Look across?" I asked  
"Yes. Stare into the soul of The person In front of you... And show them your true passion" He said  
"What's the point of this?" Pocah Questionaed  
"Youll see..."

We all just did as we we're told and Looked at each other.  
The person in front of me was Julia, Although I barely knew her. It was still pretty embarassing to have to Stare at a girl for this long.  
"Hehe" She giggled and winked at me.  
(...) I just shyly turned away and Blinked  
I could really see what kind of person Julia was.

Von aries opened his eyes and spoke  
"I hope that You really stared into that Person's soul Because... **The person your sitting across from is your opponent in the tournament** !"


	16. Back Home

10:30  
I had left the von aries manor after that.  
It pretty uneventful after the revelations of that night, Von aries just talked about how He admired us for our strength to continue in this tournament  
And about how Much he loved dueling and his daughters.

*Creek*  
And Once again I was home.  
It was late at night which meant that neither Bonnie or My mother should be awake.  
Which is good. Because I Could go to sleep without My mother Scorning me.

(Damn...) Well IF I could go to sleep... My mind raced with thoughts of what had happened this night.  
Those revelations that von aries had given us... It was almost to much for my heart to bare  
A new type of Summoning? Almost to hard to believe.  
But again, He didnt give us much proof, so i'm not to inclined to believe him.

And Our opponents for the tournament were determined by where we sat at the table?  
I cant tell if that was pure insanity or A stroke of genius. But it certainly was innovative.  
So If I understand correctly the matchups are as followed:  
 **Me Vs Julia  
** **Azuma Vs Leonaidis  
** **Pocah Vs Yubie  
** **Ohsaka vs Neville**

If that's the case I think we got pretty lucky this time. Because none of us Have to duel each other this round.  
So at least's there's some sort of good closure, I guess  
(Whether we win or not is another thing...) I thought  
(No I shouldnt think like that...)  
I tried to stay positive and Hope for the future.

"Oh right!" I remembered ohsaka's gift, It had been neatly resting in my Pocket this entire time.  
I awkwardly took it out As I tried to damage it.  
"Let's see what's inside..." I said to myself  
Unwrapping the gift wrap I saw A lump of brown and white.  
I recognized it immediately, It was chocolate. it looked like it had been infused with milk or something.  
(I didnt take you for the cooking type ohsaka.)  
The chocolate didnt look perfect. It was certainly lumpy and disfigured, but it looked like she had tried her best.  
"Eh... Im not hungry right now... I'll eat it tomorrow." I said quietly  
I placed it on the table and went upstairs.

"Big brother..."  
Bonnie was awaiting me on the top step leading into the upstairs.  
She looked tired and worn. Like she had been here awhile  
"Bonnie, What are you doing up this late?" I asked  
"Waiting for you stupid!" She answered back as she puffed her cheeks angrily  
"Ok but what for?"  
"I want You to have this again!" She pulled out a card from her pocket  
(Ah...)  
It was her favorite one... **Kobo dragon**  
Kobo dragon was a small blue and yellow dragon that sort of reminded of bonnie in a way.  
Kobo dragon had helped me against previous opponent, it had a useful effect that halved battle damage and could stop attacks from the graveyard  
"Thanks bonnie... I think I'll use it well tomorrow." I said

I patted bonnie On the head  
"You really are Like a biscuit you know? Delicious but hard-headed... sometimes"  
"*yawn*"  
"Now lets Get you to bed." I said, I picked up bonnie and lifted her to her bedroom.  
Bonnie was heavier than I expected but somehow I managed to get her on her bed and tuck her in.

I had Hope and Faith for the outcome of tomorrow as I had the support of My great sister


	17. Tourney day

November 10th  
11:08 Am

Finally, It was here.  
The day of reckoning and the day of my destiny.  
Today was the day of the Neo City Youth tournament Quarter-Finals.  
And I was ready, I had on my Black jacket with a white button-up shirt on.  
My pants were black jeans that looked loftily formal on me and I had my duel disk and deck holder hooked to the side of my pants.

Currently I was in my room looking in the mirror.  
"Stylish" I complimented myself.  
I realized the time and thought: (Time to go, I've already spent to much time here.)  
Although I didnt even know if I was going to duel that day, because Von aries hadn't told us when we we're going to duel.

I still wanted to view's the other match and be with my friends.  
"Alright..." I put my deck in the holder and stepped out of my room.

I went downstairs where my mother and bonnie were awaiting me.  
*Cough Cough* A raspy cough was heard as soon as I came from upstairs  
"There, There..." I noticed bonnie slumped over on the couch and my mother comforting her  
She looked sick and was coughing up a storm.  
"Is everything ok?" I asked concerned  
"Bonnie is just a little sick Cael," My mother answered  
"*Cough* *wheeze* Im fine really... Just a little- *COUGH*" She coughed even louder than before, I could her her lungs wheeze a bit...  
Feeling worried, I sat down next to her, and comforted her by putting my hand on her back.  
"hey mom... I dont have to leave right now... I can stay until about 4 o clock" I exclaimed  
I wanted to help my sister.

"Cael are you sure...?" My mother asked me.  
"ya-" I responded but bonnie cut me off  
"No, big brother... You should go with your friends..." She urged me  
Bonnie looked into my eyes, I could tell she was serious.  
I didnt want to leave her, But I knew there was no resisting those adorable eyes.  
"Fine. I cant say no to you!" I exclaimed  
I patted bonnie on her head and walked to the door from the couch

"*Cough* Good luck Big bro- *cough"  
"Thanks..." (Please get well bonnie) I thought  
I hoped and prayed for Bonnie's well-being and moved on.

* * *

11:30 Am

Once outside, I realized the weather was Super-bad today...  
It was so cloudy you couldn't even see the Figure of the sun in the clouds above.  
There was also a chilling air hitting my face and made me shiver.  
"Just K-Keep walking cael" I told myself...  
It was hard to keep on walking in this weather though...  
Even As I passed the intersection in my suburbia... all I could feel was chills.

(Damn, How much farther ti'll I reach the stadium?)  
I had been walking for only 3 minutes and those thoughts permeated my head.  
I pulled out My device and checked my gps of the city...  
I lived in the suburbs all the way to the east and the stadium for the Quarter finals was in the north...  
So I had alot more walking to do.

After about 15 minutes of walking, I finally saw someone I recognized  
I saw her light blue hair and yellow skirt, she was standing at the street crossing .  
She was waiting for the light to turn green so she could walk foward across.  
I waved and said "Hey, Ohsaka!"  
She turned her head, and Looking surprised she popped her gum.  
"C-Cael, Your here...?" She said.  
"Ya, Of course... Why wouldnt I be?" I responded  
"N-No reason..." She replied, It was kind of weird exchange  
"It's just you can be kind of aloof S-Sometimes Thats all..."  
(...? Why is she acting so weird?)

"So Anyway..." I tried to change the awkward mood  
"Taka wants us to meet him in front of the stadium right?" I confirmed  
"Yes." She said bluntly as she stared back at the crossing signal  
(...) Realizing that the conversation was going nowhere.  
I decided to ask her the question that plagued me  
"Hey ohsaka? Why did you give me that give yesterday..." I questioned  
"..." She thought about it for A second  
"It was just to show My gratitude. Like I said..."  
"Really, Just that?" I said  
"Y-Yes, I dont know what your trying to imply here!"  
"Y-yeah" I asserted  
"But... I did have a bit of 'joy' making it for you..." Ohsaka face turned red and so did mine, At that moment I didn't know what to think.  
Did ohsaka like me or not?

Luckily at that moment, The light turned green meaning we could walk across and end this awkward conversation.  
"W-Well then, I guess we wont be getting anywhere just by talking tight?" I joked As again I tried to change the subject.  
"H-Ha." she forced a small laugh.  
We both walked across the crosswalk as cars and vehicles stopped for us  
We made a sort of pathway of destiny.


	18. Allies

11:58

We walked further and further into the Sultry city, every moment Felt like the weather could get worse.  
But we remained hopeful as we were right in front of the stadium, the only thing separating us was the long line of people That stretched from the stadium about 5 miles back.  
It truly was a stadium fit for champions, It was about 3 times larger than the ones we used for the matches before.  
It was rumored that it could hold about 80,000 people.

Ohsaka was walking right beside me and was also marveling at the stadium.  
She looked at me and closed her eyes.  
"we've finally made it here. after about a month of facing opponents..." She Reminisced  
"Ya, it's been a long road... but We're here..." I responded  
I reflected too, (Ive grown a lot since Then) I pondered

After reflecting for a bit I scan the area for my friends  
(Let's see...)  
following the line up a bit, I saw Ali,Taka and Rhaja  
Ali was wearing a red dress with a Straw hat. It was kinda cute in a way.  
Rhaja was sporting a Brown jacket with shorts, I dont think she knew it was going to be this bad of weather today.  
and Taka Was wearing a formal peacoat.

"Hey guys!" We saw ali Waving to us in the distance.  
She And Rhaja and taka turned to us.  
"Hi, Guess you guys got here earlier than us" I said  
"You damn sure are. It's rude to keep me of all people waiting!" Taka snarked  
"Whatever, Where's yubie?" I asked  
"I thought she would be with you..." Takashi Replied.  
(Classic yubie! always to be late for something.) I noted.  
"We havent seen her." Ohsaka Replied  
"Oh that Yubie, Always Late!" Ali added  
Yubie being Late wasnt all too suprising though, She had a tendency for things like that.

"*Shuffling*" The line slightly moved up a bit.  
"You guys... Are so lucky... To not have to wait..." Rhaja Spurred.  
"Yep, Vip Passes baby!" I flashed my pass from my pocket.  
It was kind of a cocky thing to do, But I was really glad I didnt have to wait in that huugggeee line  
"*Tch* Such a tragedy, I of all people should Not be forced to wait in line." taka said  
"Get over yourself" Ohsaka said.  
"*tch*" Taka just scoffed and turned his head foward.  
The tension was real.

"Hey... Cael... You might wanna duck." Rhaja said  
As she said that I heard the sound of someone running behind me.  
"AIYA!"  
(Oh crap...) I knew who that was... My worst Fear... Meimei.  
She had jumped on my back and hugged me profusely, I could barely Breathe.  
"Meimei Please get off of me..." I said  
"You thought I wouldnt be here to support you! BUT GUESS AGAIN SILLY!"  
She started rub her face against mine.  
It was really embarassing... And everyone started to stare at us...  
" Dont You have a restaurant to run..." I commented.  
"I Just left it to the others... They'll be fine."  
(That sounds so Irresponsible...!) I Pondered.  
"Now I can Cheer You on Caely!" She squeezed me even tighter.  
"Owww..." I cried.

*Crack* Thunder crackled from the skies above as it started to pour down.  
The Crowd Grumbled in cries of Annoyance and inconvenience.  
(Now!) I used this opportunity to slip away from Meimei's grip  
And ran Towards the VIP Entry Area which was farther up ahead  
"See ya, guys!" I yelled as I ran away  
"Cael...! My love You cant run Forever!"  
I ignored that remark by meimei.  
I ran for about 2 minutes until I had gotten upfront

The Entry area for Us champions Was a Red Door and curtain that led into the stadium.  
It had "VIP" Written on the top and Something on the top.  
There was also a Familiar face waiting In front of it. Claudia again.  
She looked even more bored than before and was just sitting in a chair, Just brushing her hair as she did before.  
She was wearing basically the same thing from the party except with pants.  
"Morning!" I said enthusically  
"Good day. Just go in this way and wait." She Instructed  
(Straight to the point, I see...)  
"if it's not to troubling, is Something bothering you?" I asked."  
"Why do You care?" She Replied  
"..." There was a Silence For about 10 Seconds.

"Sorry, It's nothing really. *sigh*" She apologized.  
"You sure? I mean Im open to talking about it"  
Claudia smirked,  
"It's nothing, Just the stress of this tournament." She said  
"I understand, This does seem Like it takes a lot of work and time to prepare..."  
I sympathized with her.  
"And it doesnt help that Lianna is always playing hero..."  
"... She must be a handful..."  
"... Right, But anyway let's head inside."

She got up from her chair and went inside the door.

I Followed soon after and went on with my destiny.


	19. Origins

When I went inside the room I Realized I was in some sort of waiting area.  
The room was yellow and white and had a coffee table in the middle With a teapot and kettle and several other foods on the table.  
There were about 8 Chairs in The room, one for each of Us I guess.  
There was also A giant mural of Von Aries hanging the wall, it really showed his ego.

Claudia was in the room with me, and we both sat down in the chairs Near the entrance.  
There was no one else in the room with us... I assume they were either not here at the moment... or in the stadium already...  
With nothing else to do, Me and claudia began to talk  
" The other champions are in the stadium right now... But you can wait here if you want. The weather is really bad outside"  
"Just come out when My father starts Giving his opening speech." she explained.  
(Yeah, I think I'll Stay in here...) In that weather it was probably best that I didn't Stay out longer than I needed to be.

"Good luck In your match, Mr. Abel" she wished  
She Bowed to me.  
"Uh thanks..." I blushed.  
Claudia Turned her back to me and went out the door on the other side, Her hair fluttered as she did,  
I noticed her look back and smile at me while she did.  
I didnt know what to think of it at the time and just smiled back...  
*Whoosh* Suddenly I heard the curtains in front of the door flip open

"Hello Minion..." A person behind me said.  
(Yubie...) I realized  
"You're late..." I said As I turned around to greet her.  
Yubie was wearing an all-white Rain coat with a Bucket hat on, Unlike the others she looked like she was actually prepared...  
"Oh hush... A True empress is always on time...!" She warned.  
"God yubie,You know we all worry about you sometimes..."  
"Hmph I dont need your 'worry' I'm perfectly fine on my own!"  
(*sigh*) Sometimes talking to yubie is like talking to a brick wall...  
But at least a brick wall it wouldn't give you sass back.

"And Beside's My Duel isnt even today. So I really had no need to grace you all with my presence in the First Place" Yubie explained  
"So why did you even come?" I asked  
"Because that sage Alison begged me to!"  
"Guess you cant resist ali huh? She's kind of like your 'Familiar' or something?" I suggested  
"Shut up!"

Then I came to a Mundane Realization.  
"Wait, If that's true than it's either Neville vs Ohsaka Or Azuma vs Leonaids today..."  
"You mean dont know either?" Yubie asked  
"Von aries only told me about when My Duel was, and I assume it was the same for the others..." I explained  
"and I couldnt find anything about it on Television or On the web..."  
"What Intiative! To Hide it From the Press just so we wouldnt know our own matches!" Yubie exclaimed  
Yubie was right. Von aries really must want to keep everything about this tournament a secret if He's willing to go that far...

"Speaking of that Witch Ohsaka, Where doth she go to?" Yubie medievally said  
(huh?) I just realized that ohsaka Has been gone since I ran from meimei...  
"I dont know... she was right behind me-"  
I was cut off by The sound of hands slapping together

*Clapping*  
The sound of clapping permeated the room, Cheering soon followed.  
"The speech is starting Already?" I said  
(It felt Like I just got in here.)  
"Heresy! Now I'll Have to get Wet!"  
"I dont Think That's the Biggest of our worries..." I warned

It wasnt as I was about to find out.  
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IT'S TIME FOR THE NEO CITY QUARTER FINALS"  
Me and yubie rushed out, sparing no time we even knocked down the tea on the table.

Me and Yubie had gone through The door on the other side. The same one Claudia had gone through just moments before.  
And we were Immediately Greeted by Waves of Shouting People  
The stadium was Probably bigger on the inside than it was on the outside as It felt like there was about 10000 People on all side's of me.  
On the other side of the stadium was a huge monitor that displayed ads for things and A announcer booth  
In the sky Was a blimp That read: "Biancho-Corp" And several helicopters  
But what caught my attention the Most was the Big stage in the middle of the arena.  
It was purple and White like the color of Von Aries attire.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" A voice said on a microphone.  
The man Himself appeared from beneath the stage He had risen up dramatically like a hawk or a phoenix.  
He had his arm raised up like he was some sort of ascending god. It was Super pretentious.  
"I hope Your all excited For the Neo City Youth Tournament Quarter Finals!"  
*Cheering*  
The crowd cheered mindlessly with Great passion.  
"For weeks these 8 Duelists have been Climbing up the ranks and Destroying anyone in there path!" Aries exclaimed  
(Thats kind of a Harsh way to put it)  
"And Now they've Reached the top of the chain and are going to duke it out for the title of King of games 2074!"

Our Portraits were Displayed on the monitor Side by side we were all displayed with a background of different colors.  
My portrait In the middle right next to Pocah and Leonaidis.  
"I just wanna say Im Proud of each and every one of you."  
Von aries Began to Walk and Talk, as he did began to look up towards the sky  
"Im Pretty Sure Most of You Know this... **But I was The First Neo-City King of Games** "  
*Cheering*  
(Really?) I didnt know that at time. It was completely Unaware of this  
"Thank you, When This Tourney First started around 25 years ago... I was but a Poor Beggar on the streets..."  
"I had to Beg for change in order to survive, All I had was My deck and My sister."  
"But then in a sudden ray of hope ... The first ever Neo City Was Announced... with an Astonishing 4 Million CR Announced as the grand prize."  
"As you can see, I won the Tournament and Found new Hope for myself and My sister."  
"Although shortly after... My sister would leave me to..." He said  
I could see A tear in Von aries Eyes. He was showing an Unusual amount of emotion.

It was A deep Moment for Valor Von aries, I saw That i got to see another side of him  
It also Made me Feel some kind of sympathy for him.  
"Ah! But enough About me. It's time For What you've all been waiting for!" He immediately recoiled back into his playful ways  
He pulled out a card with some words on it. I guessed at the time that it was the name of the Match today.  
"Can I get a drumroll Please" He taunted  
*Laughing* some People found it amusing, although I didnt.  
(How cliche)

*Drumroll* For about 11 seconds a long drumroll played. even though it was only 7 seconds it felt like an eternity for me.  
every knawing second... Felt like a thorn in the side of my Brain.  
"The First Match of today will be... **Azuma Tenkokin vs** **Leonaidis Biancho "**


	20. Powerful Ambition

The cheering in the crowd hit it's maximum when Von Aries announced which duo was dueling.  
Meanwhile I was just standing aghast at it.  
I mean there wasonly two options but I still didn't expect this.  
Yubie on the other hand just seemed minorly annoyed by it...  
"*tch* I wanted to see that witch Ohsaka duel... But this is fine too." Yubie added.  
"hey at least we had a duel today... Im surprised they didn't cancel it with this weather" I said,  
"Whatever... Im going to go sit down near those chairs over there."

In the middle of the stadium near the central dueling arena where the epic duel between Leonaidis and azuma was going to take place.  
There was a bundle of chairs, They were slightly to the right of it though in order not to get in the way of the camera's and holographic displays for the monsters.  
The chairs were sophiscated in nature and a tan color.  
On the back of them Read 'VIP' Which meant that we were clear to sit there.

I sat down in one of the chairs in the first row and to the left most.  
Yubie sat right next to me and we were really close together. Almost skin to skin contact,  
It made me feel embarassed to have a girl so close to me  
"Y-Yubie Can you please move over a seat or two, Your making me feel uncomfortable...?"  
"Hmph fine! But not because you asked me too!" She Moved about one seat over.  
It made me sigh a sigh of relief.  
Meanwhile On the stage Von Aries passed The Microphone to a Middle-aged man wearing a colorful suit.  
He was the Comentaor, I think.  
"Good morning everyone! let's get started! Im Ted Bungundy And I'll be your duel Commentator for today!" He announced

"Without Further ado, I'll Introduce both of These Marvelous champions."  
The Arena filled with mist of the left side.  
"Coming In at 15 years old and not getting any younger... !"  
(I think I know who this is...)  
"Here Comes the brash and Shrewd... Azuma Tenkojin"  
Out of the left most entrance came Azuma. He was wearing the same thing from Yesterday.  
The Brownish-orange jacket was more enigmatic in this weather and light, It made him look more menacing.  
"Azuma First faced off against Juri Hano In Round 1 and since then Has obliterated any Opponent that he gets in the ring with!"  
"Let's give him A hand folks...!"  
*Cheering* A meager amount of cheering came from the crowd.  
Azuma walked mid-center of the arena and stood there eyeing the other entrance like a hawk for Leonaidis.

"Next up is The Patient and Kind-hearted 14 year old... Leonaidis Biancho!"  
(Those are the Last thing I'd describe him,I'd probably describe him as a smug jerk!)  
"In his First match he utterly demolished Ben Brittleman and ever since then has Been a threat to every duelist that crosses him!"  
"He overwhelms his opponents with his deck of beautiful maidens known as Valkyrie's"  
"Here comes the successful Heir of the Biancho corporation! Leonaidis Biancho!"  
*CHEERING* *SCREECHING  
Unlike Azuma, the crowd was Waaaayyyyy More excited to see leonaidis, mostly his fangirls... and fanboys.  
on the right entrance he came out. wearing his white jacket with a formal suit underneath.  
He had his duel disk already on his arm and had his classic smug look on his face.  
Girls in the right side stands waved there hands out to him in which he winked at them, almost Causing them to go into ecstasy?

The commentator cleared his throat and Said:  
"I-Is there anything you two would like to say to each other before this match begins?" He asked  
I looked over to Azuma who groping the air for something... I realized that he signaling the commentator to throw him the microphone,  
Since leonaidis and azuma were on opposite sides of the stadium and the stadium itself was huge it was only natural that he needed it.  
"Oh right" Ted realized  
He readied his hand like throwing a football and chucked the microphone all the way across the massive stadium.  
It was quite impressive.

Azuma caught it with near perfection.  
He tapped the microphone several times before spewing his words  
"*tch* You bastards...! Rooting for a guy like him" He said as pointed to leonaidis.  
(Of course his first words are scornful...) I reckoned  
"But I'll expose the truth..."  
"He and his Family have been trampling over middle and lower class of this city for decades! And yet you want to cheer for him? Disgusting!"  
Azuma chuckled  
"Not only has he been destroying the city within it's limits, His family's been destroying The outside too!"  
(Outside?)

People began to whisper about the Slanderous things Azuma had said  
"Listen, Im from the Shinohara Land's to the north of city!"  
(Shinohara?)  
I knew that name, It twas the name of a another competitor I faced beforehand, Her name was Ryuken Shinohara.  
I faced in the Second round of the tournament. I remember it vividely

[Flashback]

October 10th 2074

"Now Parallel Warrior Laser Zio attack Fire Fist Coyote! Laser sword slash!"  
Parallel warrior Laser zio gained 500 attack So the damage would be 800  
Ryuken LP: 3150  
" He also has An effect That inflicts battle damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack!"  
"ah!" She cried out in shock  
Ryuken LP: 850

"Its time to finish this... Parallel Warrior Laser Man! Attack her directly And end this duel!"  
Laser man's vizor glowed red and shot and two laser energy disks at Ryuken ending the duel  
Ryuken LP: 0

" Cael Abel Has won!" The announcer said  
"give A hand For these two, folks!"  
*cheering*

"I lost To the Likes Of you!...My father will be so dissapointed" She said to herself  
ryuken had collapsed after her defeat  
"hey Ryuken ... It might not be any of my business but... You shouldnt have to worry about what Other people say"  
I said while holding out my hand to her  
" huh.. what do you mean?  
" well It was obvious That your dueling For approval from someone..."  
"umm"  
"The way you showed no respect or even acknowledged your monsters, Those flashy constellation cards even they didnt really even help you that much" "it was all just an act wasnt it?"

"Yes... to impress my father who is always disappointed with me." She was holding back tears  
"Ryuken you dont need to worry..." "A simple Life code a live by is just to **believe in yourself** "  
"Believe in yourself huh?... I might try that..." She finally took my hand and lifted herself up "thank you cael-cha- er I mean Cael"

*cheering*  
The crowd cheered us on as I had new hope,faith and A new friend.  
[End]

(Ah! good memories...)  
Ryuken was a honorable but a bit brash of a duelist.  
She taught me the lesson of humility and taught the lesson and self-respect. it was great experience all-around.  
But my main question was what was Azuma's connection to her?  
(What is going on?)  
"This kid and His family have been Sponsoring Forced Imprisonment in My land!"  
"Every day... Innocent people are taken away from there homes to work In what is essentially a Labor camp."  
*Gasp* The Audience began to gossip and whisper at the accusation., every second got tenser and tenser.  
(Labor...Camp...?)  
"All so he and His company can produce more of Your 'Leo-Pads'! It's frankly disgusting"  
The whispers and Murmur's got louder as the accusations got harsher.

"But it's fine... Because I'll soon put him in the dirt... Like the rest of the scum He is."  
"And then I'll s _it_ atop the throne of duelists when I take this rich boy out!"  
Azuma readied his duel disk and put his deck in.  
He then spiked the Mic back to ted bungundy

"Some Harsh slander was just thrown at you! care to respond Mr. Biancho...?"  
Leonaidis smirked and shook his head.  
(huh?) I was confused. Usually leonaidis would come back with a sarcastic statement or something, But him just staying quiet?  
but instead he just put his deck in his duel disk and walked towards the center.

Step by step they both walked to the center arena. With each staring at each other in an intense gaze  
Azuma stopped right in front of us and Leonaidis stopped on the other side.  
They both Looked at each With a **Duelist's Passion.  
** They readied there duel disks. Leonaidis had his on his arm and azuma preferred to physically hold his.

The commentator didnt even need to say it:  
"It's time to duel!"


	21. Azuma vs Leonaidis

"Let's duel!" They both said  
The area around them lit up as the holographic display readied itself.  
The crowd also applauded the start of the contest. fans of Leonaidis were holding up a sign that read: "Style and beauty always win!"  
on the other side no one was holding anything for azuma...  
"Now then, I'll do A coin toss to decide who goes first! What will you call?"  
"Heads" Leonaidis called  
"Tails" Azuma called

bungundy wasted no time in flipping the coin. He threw it up in the air about 10 feet.

The coin flipped over and over until it finally came down... And it landed on heads  
Leonaidis smirked and commented  
"My luck preceeds me." Leonaidis commented  
"*tch* Whatever" Azuma passed off.  
"My My! so angry arent we?" Leonaidis taunted.  
"Whatever You'll be on the ground crying after his!" Azuma replied

"Start!" Bungundy blew his whistle and thus the epic contest of wits,luck and skill known as a duel began!  
*WOOOO*  
The crowd cheered and even I got a little bit of rush at the start of this match.  
Leonaidis and azuma both drew their beginning hands and began the duel.

Azuma LP: 8000  
Leonaidis LP: 8000

"Beauty before brawn, I draw!" Leonaidis exclaimed.  
Leonaidis grinned at the card he drew.  
"I set one card face down and I end my turn."

...  
"What?"  
"All that crap-talking you do, And you just set a card and end your turn! What a Joke!" Azuma capitalized on this moment  
It was an odd move for Leo to do such a thing.  
It didnt suit his play style at all. and just made him wide open for on onslaught of attacks.  
"I only need one card to defeat you..." He said back

Although Leonaidis seemed confident, I wasnt so sure that this was his best move

"And You know... I just wanna get something straight to you! " He said as he pointed at azuma.  
Azuma relished in the opportunity, by licking his lips  
"Oh yeah?" he confirmed. I had a bad feeling about this. it seemed to omninous  
" **You wont win this duel**... Just surrender Now or Face utter embarassment." He warned  
"You fucking bastard! To surrender is not in The Shinohara Way!"

"Then Show me this Shinohara way and begin your turn Already!" Leonaidis commanded  
"Your Excited to die arent You, fucker?"

"But I'll Happily grant you that death wish! I draw!"  
Azuma drew a card from his deck and Leered.  
His face contorted into a fiendish smile and he played his card.  
"I activate Red-eyes fusion!"  
A blood red fusion vortex materialized behind him. the skeletons of dragons and wyverns flowed with in it.  
"The special thing about red-eyes fusion is that when I dont have any monsters on my field, I can Fuse with monsters from my deck!" He explained  
(Nani?)  
*chattering* The audience was quite excited to see this.  
"I'll Fuse the Red-eyes black dragon in My hand with The Red-eyes Archfiend of Lightning in my deck!"  
Red eyes Appeared in all it's glory and Pride. It the classic black dragon with a massive wingspan.  
But right next to it was a new monster, An Archfiend that resembled red eyes. It was covered in bone marrow and had claws the size of it's head  
They both fell into the Fusion vortex to form a new monster.

"Fusion summon!"

" _Come Forth, The Demonic Dragon imbued with power of the archfiends... That burns the foolish ones who dare oppose it!"_  
" **Archfiend Black Skull Dragon! "**

Archfiend Black skull dragon  
Level 9  
Dark/Dragon  
Atk 3200 Def 2500

The dragon really was a demonic one.  
metallic horns stood atop it's head and it's side completely eclipsed by it's massive red wings.  
Like a demon or archfiend it's body was covered in a boneless thick skin was redish in nature  
Flames shot from it's side's, It truly wowed the crowd as it flew up into the sky.

"Wow! A true demon dragon has appeared folks! Can it take down our champion, Leonaidis!"  
(I hope so...) I thought.  
"Peasant..." Yubie tapped me on my side. she clearly wanted something  
"What?" I asked  
"Who do you think will win this joust? Azuma or leonaidis."

It was an interesting question that yubie asked me. It made me think about their skill, luck and the context of this duel.  
"I really dont know. I havent seen Azuma duel that much to know much about his style. Leonaidis on the other hand is besically flawless when it comes to dueling. it almost like he can predict your moves before there even coming." I explained  
"*scoffs* Fine. Let me put it another way... Who do you _want_ to win?" She asked.  
(A completely different question...)  
"There both kind of awful people... But I personally hope that azuma wins... only for the fact it would teach leonaidis a lesson in self deprecation"  
"Hmm right?" Yubie said back

But we swiftly turned our attention back to the duel at hand. Azuma was picking through his cards until he finally played one.  
"I activate 'Prophecy of Red eyes'"  
"By discarding another dragon type monster, I can summon a "red-eyes" Monster from my deck!"  
"I'll send Red eyes wyvern to the graveyard, So I can Special Summon Red eyes black flare dragon"

The ground erupted with a wall of flames appearing from the ground.  
From it, A dragon resembling the original red-eyes appeared.  
instead of black wings like the original it had red wings and a metallic outlook.  
It also looked more crazed for blood...

Red eyes Pyrrhic Dragon  
Level 6  
Dark/Dragon  
Atk 2200 Def 2000

"Now it's time for the fun part... My revenge on you!" Azuma  
Azuma chuckled and raised his fist up in the air.  
(Revenge...)  
Is it really worth it?  
"Burn him alive! Archfiend Black skull dragon! Burning Hell Blast!"

black skull archfiend reviled as Flames came shooting out of it's mouth. It's demonic gaze focused on leo and a continous stream of fire suddenly burst out of it's mouth.  
Leonaidis on the ground meanwhile didnt even flinch when faced with the flames...  
the stream finally hit him and caused a massive explosion  
*Boom* A holographic explosion rocked the stadium with special effects.

Everyone gasped as leonaidis was caught in the fiery explosion, I even clinched my teeth in suspense  
When the smoke cleared, an outline of leonaidis was there, thankfully!  
"Is that all?" he asked  
Leonaidis flipped his hair as if it was nothing.

Leonaidis LP: 4800

"I'll wipe that smirk off your face, You smug dick!" Azuma said  
"Pyrrhic Dragon attack him directly!"  
Pyrrhic Dragon flapped his wings and ascended into the air above him.  
Every time it flapped it's wings I could feel myself getting tenser and tenser,  
"Pyrrhic Blast!"  
A stream of fire similar to the one before came from it's bursting mouth, The stream was red and moving closer and Closer to leonaidis on the ground.  
But he didnt seem worried at all...

"Hahahahahah."  
He began to laugh.  
"HAHAHAHAHAH. Like I would let you! Trap Card activate! **Reversal Reborn**!"

The trap card flipped over and It's artwork depicted a Demon rising from the molten earth and electrifying a couple of village peasants.  
The card itself was a continuous trap card which meant trouble for azuma.  
"What?" Azuma took a step back as it looked like he did not expect this like the rest of us.

"Did you really think you would be able to defeat me so easily?" Leonaidis asked condescendingly  
"..." Azuma was silent  
"Haha... Reversal Reborn is a trap card that let's me summon a monster From *your* graveyard!" Leonaidis said  
"Dammit!" Azuma cursed as He hit his own duel disk with his fist.  
"I think you know Which monster i'll chose! Become mine!, Red-eyes Archfiend of Lightning!"  
The monster that was used for the fusion before appeared again. it was An Archfiend that resembled red eyes. It was covered in bone marrow and had claws the size of it's head.

Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning  
level 6  
Dark/Fiend  
Atk 2500 def 1200

"What a pain...!"  
"But at least there's a good side to this. Since you activated your trap before the damage step I can call off my attack..."  
(Right...) I agreed. The complicated rules of battle always confused me, but That was one thing every duelist should know. It was foolish of leonaidis to activate his trap before the damage step.  
"Ha!Your impatient-ass should've waited. then You could've destroyed Pyrrhic dragon." Azuma said.  
"I have another plan for your Monster... Dont worry Zumi-Chan." Leonaidis taunted  
(Zumi? Come on leonaidis you can think of better nicknames...)  
"You dont get to use honorifics, You Bastard!." Azuma said stoically

With that azuma ended his battle phase.  
"Now Youll feel the Pain That my people feel everyday...!" Azuma clutched his heart and thrust his fist forward.  
(Pain...) Everyone feels it. But I wonder what kind azuma feels...  
"Black Skull Archfiend dragon Effect Activates! By shuffling in a 'red-eyes' monster from my graveyard he deals damage equal to that monster's attack!" He explained.  
"Ugh. How annoying, it's like a mosquito constantly sucking off your blood!" Leonaidis cursed  
"Burn in hell! Primordial Burst!" Azuma commanded  
Archfiend dragon whole body lit up with tangish color. Flames began to protrude from it's malevolent body and it sparks began to fly.  
*Roar* It began to roar in pain and ectasy as flames burst off of it's body like a rocket! Everyone sparks and lucid flames went in multiple directions but mostly hit leonaidis.

Leonaidis LP: 2400

"Gah!" leonaidis Faked his anguish at the attack. although I dont think azuma caught on.  
"This is only the begining of your suffering, it isnt over... I'll set one card and then end my turn."  
Azuma's facedown appeared on the field. Finally his turn had come to an end...  
Or so I thought.  
Just as Leonaidis was going to draw his card Azuma interrupted him.

"Like I said! It isnt over! And the end phase of my turn, I'll activate Red eyes Pyrrhic Dragon's effect!"  
Pyrrhic dragon roared in submission.  
"We both take damage equal to it's attack! Meaning 1100 damage!"  
"*Sigh*"  
Leonaidis just sighed at this action. his face getting more and more bored and disappointed at this del.  
The Pyrrhic dragon Burst out into flames just like it's archfiend companion. Flames began to Expell from it's body and it sparks began to fly again in all directions.  
This time it hit both of them covering them in flames.

Leonaidis LP: 1300  
Azuma Lp: 6900

"Looks Like leonaidis is On the ropes! Can he Come back!" The commentator announced  
(I wouldnt underestimate Leonaidis.) I Notioned  
He's a tough duelist. even if he is a bit arrogant. he can always come back...

"Youve finally gotten Your retribution!" Azuma vented.  
"Hm." Leonaidis hymned to Azuma's penance and suffering?  
"Just like how your Company Destroys Our forests... I've burned you!"  
*Whispers* Everyone around the stadium whispered in anguish at azuma's accusation.  
"Hmph." Leonaidis turned his head.  
"Is that all you have to say for yourself? is 'Hmph'? Your pathetic."  
"Like I said before, I dont think your worth wasting words over." Leonaidis retorted.  
"Well I just have five words for you, Screw You And your backward-ass Company!"  
(That was more than five...)

But finally azuma ended his turn with a click of his duel disk. His first turn had been interesting to say the least.  
He had two powerful dragons on the board and a facedown, which was good both offensively and defensively.  
Azuma definitely seemed to be on the upper paw, as Leonaidis was down to only 1300 Life Points.  
If Azuma Played His cards right He could definetly win this duel!

"You got lucky this turn but Unluckily for you though, Youll be finished on my next turn."  
"Hahahaha..."  
Leonaidis did His signature laugh. It wasn't maniacal but cold,condescending and callous.  
It sent a chill down my spine and made me fearful.  
"What's so Fuckin Funny?"

"HAhahaha! Silly Azuma! **There wont Be a Next turn** "


	22. Azuma vs Leonaidis 2

" **There Wont be Next Turn** "  
Leonaidis's Words resonated In my ears.  
How Could He be so Sure? Did He have some sort of strategy I didnt Know about...!  
Or was He just bluffing? These questions raced through my mind.

I turned to yubie for some consolation of the situation.  
"that first turn was interesting..." I said that to Yubie But Another voice Had answered.  
" I know Right?" A voice behind me startled me  
The voice frightened me and I lept up in fear, in doing so I realized it the light haired girl-terror ohsaka.  
She was standing to the side of me and was holding a Green-neon Box. It had a food symbol on it.  
"Ah! Ohsaka! Stop doing that!" I Pleaded  
"Sorry Cant Help it." She scruffed my head playfully.  
"where were you though? I was worried a bit." I stated concerned, Ohsaka's disappearances always worried me a tad bit.  
"You worry about me alot." She replied  
"Huh?" I Questioned  
"Nothing. anyway I went to the concession stand to get you something." Ohsaka explained.  
I looked at her side and she had a box in her hands.

From her side she reached into The box with a popcorn symbol on it.  
and She put it on my lap?  
I wasnt hungry at the time, So I sort of pushed it away.  
"Im not that hungry right now. But thanks for the thought though." I said.  
"..." She looked dissapointed and frustrated oddly enough that I hadnt taken popcorn.  
She sighed and looked to the field.

" Can you two plebians shut up!, so I can watch this duel?" Yubie Demanded  
"Fine." Ohsaka sat down Right Next to me. She was as close to me as yubie was before... But oddly enough I didnt mind That she was this close.  
It was almost Reassuring to have her beside me.

"My turn! I draw!"  
Leonaidis started his turn with an enthusiastic draw.  
"For my First move I'll activate a spell known as 'Upstart Hobgoblin'"  
"the effect let's me draw two cards! But In exchange you gain 2000 Lifepoints." He explained  
Leonaidis drew 2 cards from his deck and a shining green aura formed around azuma representing his gain in life.  
Azuma LP: 8900  
"Giving me 2000 more life points was a really dumb move!"  
"Heh, Maybe... But you wont have those life points for long." Leonaidis retorted

"Now then, Remember when I said I had a plan for your monster? Will this is it." Leonaidis said  
"*Tch* whatever." Azuma replied, Not caring for it.  
"Your archfiend will become a sanctimonious tribute for my Valkyria!"  
The red eyed archfiend dissipated into nothing as it morphed into another monster!.  
"Come on! Valkyria Brutalizer!" He ordered  
The monster it morphed into was a Huge Amazoness-Like woman who had pink her and was wearing a brown garb.  
In her gianormous hands was a hammer the size of her body.

Valkyria Brutalizer  
Level 5  
Earth/Warrior  
Atk 2100 Def 2000

"So you traded my Powerful monster for a weaker one? How retarded."  
"Are you just gonna keep insulting me or are you going to let me play?" Leonaidis replied  
"Whatever, Just keep playing nerd." Azuma said back.  
It was tense. but leonaidis smirked anyway despite the mood.  
"But dont be too mad Zuzu-Chan. A more powerful monster will be coming!"  
"When I activate this Card 'Valkyria Ascension!"

When the card activated a bright light came out of it as it was projected onto the field.  
"it's so damn Bright!" I related to myself  
Through the brightness a halo appeared in the sky, It was Yellow and majestic although it also had an ominous look to it.  
"By Getting rid of one card in my hand..." Leonaidis got rid of a monster card in his hand.  
" I can Sacrifice a 'Valkyria' monster to summon one from my deck that has a higher level!" He explained.  
Valkyria brutalizer ascended into the Halo from below, When she did it shined.

"Here comes my Beautiful Guardian from the heavens! Valkyria Ascension Angel!"  
From The halo came a Woman with two pure white wings and a pure face. she Blond hair and Blue eyes and generally Stunning to look at.  
She was the embodiment of a true angel.

Valkyria Ascension Angel  
Level 8  
Light/Fairy  
Atk 2800 Def 2500

" So what, You summoned your Weak-ass Bimbo? Now what? It cant stand up to my black skull!"  
"We'll see about that." Leonaidis smirked... He had something up his sleeve.  
I didnt what. But he definetly had something...

"But for now I must apologize to you Azuma." leonaidis colluded.  
"huh?" Azuma was confused  
"You showed me your fusion And now I'll need to show you mine." He chuckled.  
(A fusion?) I knew he had them, But I didnt expect one so soon,  
Casually leonaidis played the "polymezation" Card on his duel disk. The Enigmatic fusion vortex appeared behind him.  
"I'll Fuse the Valkyria Angel and Valkyria Knight in my hand..."

The two monsters appeared right behind him. Valkyria Angel was a small woman with transcendent wings and pink hair with light red armor.  
Valkyria knight was a classical era looking knight with a helmet over it's head and a emblem on it's chest.  
The both fell into the fusion vortex causing it to become complete.  
"Fusion Summon!"

"Now Come on! The armored knight that will bring justice to everyone and slay the insurgents! come on _Valkyria Armored Knight "_

From above a sparking light from above came from it descended Revealing A Red Haired Female Ironclad Maiden in Gray Stilted armor.  
She was stoic but beautiful and carried and long sword.  
It had "Wings" of sort, But they were more Mechanical Like and not supernatural like her angel companion.

Valkyria Armored Knight  
Level 7  
Light/Warrior  
Atk 2500 Def 2000

"Oh wow... Im so Fucking impressed." Azuma sarcastically  
"You should be. Because when She's Summoned I can Revive A valkyria monster from my Graveyard!"  
The armored knight threw her sword into the ground, Creating a white portal in the ground below.  
"Revive from the Aesir! Valkyria Sage!"  
From It A new Valkyria appeared.

She was smaller and Younger than the other Valkyrian women, like she was teenager.  
She had Light blue hair which was covered by a sage's Headpiece. and Finally she had a staff in her hands which truly made her a sage.

Valkyria Sage  
Level 4  
Light/Spellcaster  
Atk 1400 Def 1000

"Booorinngggggg. Can you do anything beside's summon weak monsters?"  
"Can you do anything beside's Being a nuisance?" Leonaidis replied.  
"Fuck you. I swear I'll Kick your ass if It's the last thing I do."  
"Hahaha. That's what I like to hear... Your hate... Your despair."  
"Despair... What would you know about that..."  
"Alot more than you think..." He assured... although his answer did concern me.  
Leonaidis smirked greviously as he flipped his hair and played his next card.  
"Speaking of Despair...!"

"Valkyria angel's effect while in the graveyard!" Leonaidis added  
"What?" Azuma sparked.  
"Once while She's in the graveyard... I can summon a level 5 or high valkyria monster from my hand...!"  
"Come Show him True Despair... Valkyria Despair Angel"  
From Below came an angel  
This angel was different from the other one. she looked my depressed and anxious, And it showed physically too She had purple and black armor unlike the other valkyria's.  
She had only one wing and was generally uncouth to look at.

Valkyria Despair Angel  
Level 6  
Dark/Fairy  
Atk 2400 Def 2000

"The Cards are all set... It's time for your defeat Azuma! Let's Battle!"  
Destiny was now ready to decicde the victor of this match... Azuma or Leonaidis.


	23. Azuma vs Leonaidis 3

"Battle!"

Leonaidis went into The battle ready.  
He had four Powerful Monsters on his side of the field... Although Azuma's Dragon still was More powerful then all of them.  
If he Truly wanted to end this duel. He had to get over that skull dragon

"This duel is getting tenser." Ohsaka said to me.  
"ya You can Really feel the passion in the air and... I dont think I even know who'll win." I replied  
"Yeah It does seem like there pretty evenly matched right?"  
"I think so... If Leonaidis can Overcome that dragon than This duel Might turn in his favor." I Commented.  
But it didnt seem likely to me that he could. After all it had 3200 Attack points. That's higher than any monster leonaidis had.

Looking back at the field, Leonaidis was on the attack. He did his signature hair flip and Said:  
"Oh Zuzu... If you only you Hadn't sat across from me... You wouldn't be This deep in the gutter..."  
"Call me Zuzu one More time and You fucking die." Azuma threatened  
"No Need to be hostile... After all your the one about to die. At least in a metaphorical sense."  
"Ha! Man thats a good joke ... kid... You wish you Could Kill me. I have a 3200 badass-dragon on the field and none of your Bimbo's can stand up to him" He declared  
It was true though. The most powerful monster that leonaidis had was Valkyria Ascension angel which was 2800 atk.  
"The best thing you can do is destroy Pyrrhic Dragon... But what would even fucking do?"  
"Face it kid. Your outmatched and outclassed." Azuma said.

"That's unfortunately where your wrong Azuma... Lesson one: _Your the one who's Outclassed._ "  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Azuma asked cornered.  
"This...! Ascension Angel's Effect!" Leonaidis shouted.  
"W-what?" Azuma never saw it coming. As a light began to emit from the Angel's wings and disperse all over the field.  
Every monster on Leonaidis's side of the field began to be surrounded by a shining aura that permeated there bodies.

Valkyria Ascension Angel  
Atk 3200

Valkyria Armored Knight  
Atk 2900

Valkyria Despair Angel  
Atk 2800

Valkyria Sage  
Atk 1800

"All of my Valkyria's gain 100 attack points for each of themselves on the field." He explained maliciously.  
(So that Would mean that they all gain 400 attack points) I calculated.  
Azuma looked anguished at the new power that the valkyria's had. But he just laughed it off as to not show weakness.  
"S-So what? at best You can Kamikaze your angel into my dragon... But again what good would that do?" He questioned.  
"So it's Pointless-" He was interrupted by Leonaidis

"Lesson Two: Nothing I do is Pointless!" Leonaidis Lectured Sarcastically  
"Despair Angel's Effect! For each 'Valkyria' Monster in my graveyard... All of your Monsters lose 200 atk for each."  
The angel spread it's Wings and rised to the front of the sun and eclipsed The sun with it's huge wingspan.  
"Final Despair!" Leonaidis commanded, From it's wings came a Purple Miasma which spread across the field.  
It didnt seem to affect the other Valkyria's but it impacted the dragon's heavily.  
Instead of there mighty posture that they had before they were slumped over on the field. If dragon's had feelings I would say that they were doubting themselves.

(Ah... That Effect.)  
I remembered it vividly from my duel with Leonaidis about two weeks ago.  
He had used it against me to lower all of my Monsters attack by 800 which Caused Me to lose the duel.  
It was a bad memory. Twas The reason why my wrist was broken.

"There are three Valkyria's in my graveyard so all of your Monster's will Lose 600 Attack...!"  
"Goddammit!" Azuma yelled.

Archfiend Black Skull Dragon  
Atk 2600

Red-Eyes Pyrrhic Dragon  
Atk 1600

"Now then. Lets start on Lesson 3: Your Embarrassing Defeat" Leonaidis wagged his finger ambiguously  
"Valkyria Sage Deal with Pyrrhic dragon, If you will!"  
The sage waved her staff around in a sort of casting way, The edge lit up like a lantern and fired up Pyrrhic Dragon with a blue stream of light. Destroying it.  
Azuma was pushed back the shockwave.

Azuma Lp: 8700

Although azuma had Just lost life. He didnt look worried, In fact he looked a bit smug.  
"Haha... You Know the Funny thing is that you still dont have enough damage to kill me-" He was interupted.  
"Ah... Dont worry Zuzu. I'll get to that in just a second." Leonaidis reassured.

"Now Armored Knight Attacks Archfiend Black Skull Dragon!" The Armored knight spread it's cladden wings and ascended Just above the dragon.  
"Sky Sword Slash!"  
It raised it's Sword up to the sky and Swiftly brought it down on the dragon. Slashing it entirely into two Pieces  
An implosion occured Knocking azuma back even more.

Azuma Lp: 8400

"Your a Real pain in my ass you know that? Your Like a damn urchin in My groin"  
"Odd Analogy... But I kind of Like it!" Leonaidis chortled. He was obviously being condescending.  
"But _you_ Wont like what come's Next!" He warned  
"When Valkyria Armored Knight destroys your monster, You take damage equal to It's attack!" Leonaidis exclaimed.  
(So that would Mean 2600 Damage) I Calculated  
"Damn you..." Azuma Cursed  
The Valkyria Brought it's Magnificent sword Right in front of Azuma.  
The ground around him shook and scrathed, It was almost like a miniature Earthquake was Happening. It Knocked Azuma Down to the ground as he sat on his rear.

Azuma Lp: 5800

"*Gurkh* Shit!" Azuma Spit on the ground and cursed at the sky.  
at This moment I think we both Realized at the same time that he Was Not going to win this at all.  
Leonaidis Flicked His Hair at this new revelation.  
"I told You That You wouldn't Win This duel. But You Didn't Listen to me Did ya? You Just called Me Insecular Names." Leo Mocked.  
"..." Azuma was quiet. I dont think He had anymore words Left.

"Nothing Left to say? Finally Shut the hell Up? Thank you."

" Ah well...Valkyria Despair Angel! Attack! Final Despair!"  
The Despairing Angel Spread it's Wings Causing the ground to shake again. a crack began to form in the middle of the ground... Every crack Had a Large Blackened vine protruding from it.  
They all clustered together and launched themselves at azuma directly.

Azuma Lp: 3000

"Hahaha! If only You had 300 More Life points... You Might've survived this turn."  
Leonaidis flicked his hair for about the 3rd time this match. I think it signified the end of this Game.  
"Oh well... My only regret with this duel is that I said I wouldn't waist words with you and I did the exact opposite." He lamented.  
Leonaidis really did mean it when He said There wouldn't be a next turn. I guess even he can keep promises.

"Now Then Let's Finish This! Valkyria Ascension Angel! Attack! **Divine Punishment**! "


	24. Dark lies and Rebuttal

"Divine Punishment!"

The Angel Spread it's Beautiful and luscious wings, They shined blue and sparkled a bright light. Energy from her wings careened into an orb form, In front of her.  
Everyone in the crowd and stands was amazed by the beauty of it all and cheered profusely as it charged up and It burst from her wings and headed straight for Azuma's position. He put his arm's in a "Brace" Position as the shining Orb of defeat came his way.  
It burst right over the top of him, completely encasing his body in it. Ending the duel

Azuma Lp: 0

"Dammit! The Shinohara family wont be Pleased with this outcome..." Azuma Relented to himself.  
"Oh come on! Dont act so shocked! ...I think Everyone saw this outcome coming!" Leonaidis joked smugly.  
*Laughing* Everyone around the stadium laughed and chuckled at that sly comment.  
"..." Azuma was silent though, I could see that he was pissed at the result and that callous joke.  
"What's Wrong Azuma? I thought You were going to kick my ass? And yet here you are losing on turn 2!?"  
"Screw You! I would Have won... If only I just had One more Card..." He said.  
"Sure You would have. And Im the Boogeyman." Leonaidis jested as Shrugged condescingly.  
"Fuck ... You Didn't you even Take me Seriously To Begin with did you?"  
"Hmph. Of course not. " He responded. It was blunt but true.  
(Leonaidis was Just toying with Azuma?) It was Not unlike Him to do so... But still. It's a bit cruel and malicious if You'd ask me.

"I would Never Take anyone from the Shinohara Estate Seriously..., Much less you."  
"In fact I think your cousin Ryuken would have put up a Better fight." He claimed  
(Oh! so he and Ryuken Are cousins...) The orange hair... The blade and The symbol on his jacket... It all made sense.  
"And she Lost to Cael... So she can't be that good." He insulted as he Winked in my direction.  
(Screw you Leonaidis.) I thought.

"At least... We have Fucking Heart's... Unlike you and your deplorable Family..." He Implied.  
"And here we go again..." Leonaidis moaned.  
"You Bastards Force us into Labor camps! to make your Damned Technology. It's Fucking sickening." Azuma cursed.  
"Haha... But what would you know about that Azuma...?" Leonaidis smirked again. But this time it was more devious.  
"...?" I could tell azuma was confused.  
"I mean from what I can Tell your at the top of the Shinohara Family. So You've Likely never even been in one of those 'Camp's" He used air quotes.  
"... So? I've seen it happen. Women... Children... All forced into your prison of souls. It's disgusting..."

I turned to my friends For even more consolation  
"If this is true I wouldn't even Imagine the kind of pain they all felt. Being forced to work so long..." I said to myself.  
"Truly inebriating" Ohsaka agreed. The Crowd began to murmur and whisper again. People we're beginning to doubt the biancho clan.  
"Hmph. That's only the viewpoint of You Peasant's... Sometimes a Little bit of slavery is needed to advance the Nobles." Yubie commented.  
"Ugh. Thanks Yubie" I sarcastically said.

"So You admit That you and your Family knew about it?" Leonaidis asked  
"How the fuck Could I not? Seeing People getting dragged in the street to there enslavement. It was frickin infuriating!"  
"So let's Suppose for a second That these 'Forced Labor Camps' Existed...? Your family is just as guilty as mine." He pointed at azuma  
"Your Family not only knew about these So called 'Forced labor camps' But refused to do anything about them!" He insinuated  
"Also That mean's that my family wasn't even involved in the first Place!" Leonaidis concluded  
"What?"  
"If we 'Forced' Your "people" to work in factories... Why wouldn't you do anything to stop us?"  
"What? How could we-" Azuma was interrupted by Leonaidis.

"Because... This whole 'Forced Labor camps' Thing is Nothing more than a farce used to defame me and my family!"  
The whispering,Murming and gossiping stopped when leonaidis said that. It was clear he was getting the audience back on his side.  
"Haha... Your nothing more than A _Liar._ Your just trying to make us Neo-Citizens feel bad for using this glorius technology of ours" He said as he patted his duel disk.  
The crowd's Discourse at Leonaidis and The Biancho Family turned into sheer anger against Azuma and His clan.

*BOOOOO* I could hear booing from all side's the stadium being directed at him. Some Obscenities and Slurs could be heard as well.  
it got truly volatile as trash of all kinds was thrown down from to the crowd above. Cans, Balled-up paper, Empty food containers. You name it.  
"Dont you see that you're not wanted here...? Now why don't you just scurry off."  
"..." Azuma Paused and screamed at the sky

"Grr... FUCK ALL OF YOU." He threw his duel disk down violently. It smashed into a about 5 pieces and the cards flew everywhere... It made me sad to see cards and a duel disk being treated like that. But more than that I felt legitimately bad for Azuma, Leonaidis had Obviously manipulated The crowd with his frankly Nonsensical point about The shinohara's knowing about it and not doing anything to stop it.  
But I guess that's The _Power of Manipulation._

The last I would I would see of azuma was as he Angrily exited the stadium Just now. He left his destiny behind and propelled Leonaidis's forward.


	25. Art of Manipulation

12:45 Am

There was an Intermission after The Match as there always is. It's usually a time For cheerleader performances, Advertisements, or just general other stuff.  
But me and my two other friends werent there to witness any of it. We had decided to leave The arena 'area' to discuss about the duel.  
It wasn't my idea though, Ohsaka had suggested it.

We we're in A hallway on The third floor of the stadium it connected to the food court and was the most populous? Yubie was on my left, she was Leaning against the wall with her leg up. Ohsaka was right in front of me, she was looking me in the eye.  
"I think It's Purely Disgusting How one Person can Manipulate people like that." Ohsaka Asserted. I could tell she was frustrated by such an ignorance of opression. She does come from a war-torn country.  
"His argument Didn't even make any sense and yet everyone just Fell for it. " I replied.  
"His Rebuttal was basically saying that Azuma was just as guilty as him for knowing about it and not doing anything to stop it." I continued to say  
"It's just deflection Tactic's If you ask me. By putting the guilt on Azuma he deflects from his family and Manipulates the audience."  
"Pssh. You peons Wouldn't know about the **Art of Manipulation**." Yubie said.  
(Ho boy.) I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"Sometime's true Leader needs to manipulate their peons to establish power."  
"Yubie Do you have anything to add to this conversation besides bluster?" I asked.  
"What I'm saying that there's nothing wrong with manipulation." She replied.  
"And why's that yubie?" I decided to indulge her dark philosophy  
"People have used 'manipulation' To get to the highest social order since the beginning of humankind. From pretending to be someone's friend or Paying a politician, Sometime's it's just necessary" Yubie explained. I got her point but I did'nt agree with it.  
"Just because people have been doing it for a long time doesn't mean it's right." Ohsaka added.  
" Deus ex Machina Dear Sorcerer . You could also say the reverse: Maybe Because Something has been used for a long time make's it _Effective_ "

"Can I ask you a question yubie?" I said.  
"Of course, Peasant."  
"So... would you manipulate us or anyone else you cared about?" I asked  
"Of course not, But If I was desperate enough and Needed something badly then I would use my mystical tongue to coerce you into doing or giving something to me."  
"How can You even say that yubie?" I responded. "Does Honesty and truth mean nothing to you? "  
"Don't mistake me. Manipulation isn't my first option when it come's to getting what I want... But If I needed to... I would manipulate someone."

"*Sigh* I thought you we're only delusional not dimwitted." Ohsaka told.  
"hmm?" Yubie looked offended yet puzzled  
"Manipulation is never right. even in the most dire of situations."  
"There's a saying in my country... It goes like this:"

' _Karasu no de sae ha manguusu ha betsuno no Karasu'_  
Ohsaka recited Something in her own language. I had never heard her talk in her native tongue before, so it was a bit Intriguing and beautiful to hear her speak it.  
"That saying means something along the lines of: 'Not even a starving crow will trick a mongoose to steal from another crow'. Ohsaka Explained  
"What Does that even mean? You witch!" Yubie accused.  
"Well... Crows are known for mischief! They steal corn, They defecate everywhere, and on and on. But One thing they won't do is get someone else to do their trickery for them." She explained. the saying made sense, it was trying to say that even Devious People have honor.  
"If a crow was starving, I bet it would."  
"Actually-" I interrupted ohsaka  
"Let's just agree to disagree alright? I don't want to be here all day." I said  
They both looked at each other and then in the opposite directions.

"Hmph. Whatever. Im going to the food court to fill my Godly intestines with the disgusting bio-product you call 'food'."  
(Just say your going to get something to eat...) Cringeworthyness aside, She strolled right past and into the other direction of the hallway. It was clear the 'conversation' Had left off on a tense note.  
But with yubie gone. I was all alone with ohsaka...

"Finally. She's gone. Ugh she is such a damn Handful." Ohsaka Vented to me.  
"Yup..." I agreed. Yubie was a bit like a toddler you had to look after.  
"I've only Known her a month and already exasperated with her..."  
"But you've known her for years... I just have to ask? How did even deal with her this long?" Ohsaka questioned.  
"I don't. I just let her monologue until taka shut's her up."  
"Ha!" Ohsaka chuckled.  
"To tell you the truth I've only gotten more exhausted of Yubie. It looks like recently she's been 'doubling down' on this 'medieval ruler' gig or whatever' I'm getting a bit tired of it." I claimed. Yubie  
"Heh. Me too. I'm Sick of her. But she's our friend so I think that we should tolerate it... Right?"  
I thought it was harmless. Yubie's antics are only annoying when it come's to conversation.

"*Sigh* Cael. sometime's your too nice you know?" She smirked.  
She walked to me and got closer and closer and closer... It was awkward and weird.  
"Ah...!" She grasped my hand  
"You don't have to um... grab my hand you know." I said  
"I know. But I want to." She teased, It was a break from her serious personality. She looked me directly in the eyes and said:  
" _good luck_ in your match Cael. I have something I need to do, So I wont be able to watch it, But I'll pray for your victory!" Ohsaka Looked me in the eyes... Her glare made me look away in fear and embarassment.  
"T-Thanks."

"Heh." She walked away from me Leaving me to ponder about her attitude and feeling's toward's me.

* * *

After That Brief Exchange with Ohsaka I had been feeling dumbfounded. I was sitting down on the floor in the hallway.  
Several immediate questions about ohsaka permeated my mind. (As if I could answer them.) Was one my thoughts.  
Is ohsaka ' _interested'_ in me? Or she just being friendly? Or is it like a culture thing? Are aikoans supposed to be all touchy with their friends? Or I am just being oversensitive?  
"Dammit..." I never had these sensations before and I didn't know how to feel about them.  
"*Sigh* I need more guy-friends..." I Relented as I looked towards the wall.

"Mr. Abel."

"Ah!" Someone behind me startled me. I thought it was ohsaka again and I was about to throw a fit. but then I turned around to see Claudia right behind me. She had a frustrated look on her face and I could see why.  
Her clothes we're tattered and a bit dirty, they had red,yellow and brown stains on them.  
Her hair was rugged and she Had a Banana peel on her head.  
"You alright?" I asked?  
"I'm Fine!" Claudia replied obviously annoyed as she brushed herself off.  
"Ahaha. I guess it's Still Hectic out there?" I asked comedically.  
" More like Chaotic... You would think people would know how to act in a place like this!, " She sighed.  
I decided to alert her about the Peel in Her hair before it got awkward  
" By the way You have uh... A banana peel in your hair" I advised.  
She shook it off from her hair and stared at it on the dim ground. "Stay classy, Neo city" She said sarcastically.

"Anyway. I just wanted to give you This letter from my father" She announced.  
"A letter?", I could not believe that von aries would send me a letter in the middle of the tournament. How very weird of him!  
"Yes. It's urgent News about the Tournament. You need to read it Now." She pulled out a letter from back pocket and handed me a pink and brown letter,  
It had the words 'For mister Abel ~' On it in glossy text. It was oddly Strange and sensual. Not really something you would give to a teenager.  
"Hope this isn't a love letter." I Chuckled.  
"..." Claudia was silent.  
"Your right. That joke was awful." I agreed.  
"You said it, Not me." Claudia Remarked.

I cautiously opened it, and took the 'letter' out. It wasn't really much of a letter as it was short and to the point.  
It read as follows:

{Dear Mister Abel  
Due to unforeseen circumstance's your duel won't be at 5:00 Pm anymore. It's been pushed up to 1:00 Pm. Sorry for any inconvience.}

The note was short and brief and to the point.  
"..." Although I didn't know what to think of it.  
"Read it? Great. Now if You'll excuse me-" Claudia tried to rushedly exit. her back turned to and a grabbed her by hand smoothly  
"Wait! " I Interupted.  
"What!?" She answered back annoyed.  
"Why the sudden change...!?" I asked desperately to claudia, as I gripped  
She sighed and glared at me, annoyed

"... Let me ask you a question." She said  
"huh?" I Didn't what she going to ask me.  
"Do you think after a short- 15 minute duel that an audience of 10000 people should have to wait 4 hours for the next match?" Claudia asked.  
"Um, No...?" I replied.  
"Than That's why! You dolt!"  
"Oh."  
"God. We had expected the Azuma vs Leonaidis match to be at least an hour... But that Smug-Dick Leonaidis had to show off..."  
(Wow Leonaidis even denigrates the tournament he's in) I remarked.  
Claudia pulled her out signature brush and began to brush her own hair.

"*Sigh* Just be in the duel arena at 1:00 Pm ok?" She said to me.  
"Right." I agreed.  
"Hmph. Good luck, You'll need it against Ms. Cinest." She ominously said to me.  
"T-Thanks?" I didnt know how to reply to that.  
She casually walked away from me with her brush in hand and Frustration in her heart that could I feel.  
Claudia is a weird person, But she kind of reminds me of myself in some way.  
I mean were both very straight-forward and cynical people, and We have little sister's, and an eccentric parent.  
So maybe that's why I feel a connection to her.

(Or maybe I just want an excuse to become friends with another girl...) I thought to myself.  
I leaned back on the wall and wondered.  
"How close is it to 1:00?" I wondered.  
I pulled out my Leo-Pad and it insantly displayed the time on it's holographic monitor.

"Are You kidding me? **It's 12:56!** "


	26. The Power of Waiting

With no other choice I headed out to the main arena, I had to get down to the ground floor fast or else I would be late. Which I personally Don't Like because I'm a perfectionist.  
Luckily though The stairs we're at the end of the hallway. So It wasn't that far from where I was before. I swiftly stepped down the blue-ladden Stairs and raced to the bottom floor.  
I was so close to that I could hear the audience screaming and cheering for the half-time event.  
The bottom of the stairs hit my foot, And I looked forward, The entrance-way to the main arena was shining bright with sunlight and booming loud with the sound of The crowd.

"Well then. It's Time? !" I said to myself.  
I braced myself and walked out to the entrance-way To the stadium. My heart was beating faster than ever because unlike before I wasn't going to be watching the duel, I was going to be dueling myself. Not only that but It would be Televised, So everyone could see me Lose...  
"' _But cael! Any Publicity is good Publicity_ '!" I imitated taka's voice in my head.  
"Shut up Taka." I Replied to myself.  
(I'm Lonely  
Honestly I was just trying to pass the time as I didn't go in to the stadium too early, it's probably better to go when My name is called, like claudia said.

I listened on the Half-time event to cure my boredom.  
*Horns* It sounded like a brass band was playing a sonnet or something.  
"*Sigh* Why can't they ever have anything entertaining at these events." I said  
With no hope of the Half-Time event cheering me up I took my deck one last time.  
The card's we're all Neatly stacked in my pocket and I took them out easily.

(Let's see...)  
I shuffled around the cards in muh deck. Each one card Coming after the next.  
"..." I stopped when I saw 'Kobo Dragon.' The card was glistening in the sunlight and forthcoming in its dignity.  
"Bonnie..." I looked at the card in remembrance.  
(I Swear ill-use this card for you! Biscuit!.) I raised my finger to the sky  
I Shuffled the card Back into My deck and Continued Shuffling Through it. Every card felt Like it was counting on me to win this duel... And I couldn't let them down.  
But Then Again...

Julia Will be a tough opponent. Her Insect deck Could potentially Destroy me.  
(But Then Again I think I've Faced an Insect deck Before... Right?)  
Everything about Julia from the time I met her had seemed like Deja vu, But I couldn't Place my finger on it.  
Many times Last Night I tried to remember what it was about her but to no avail I couldn't think of anything.  
and How could I? with so much on my mind I couldn't Remember anything.  
"*Sigh*" I sighed again, this time with more ferocity.

*TRUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*  
(!) I heard the end-Note of a trumpet playing a song, I then Realized That the half time was over.  
"Give it Up for The Neo-City Brass-Band!"  
*Cheering* A soft cheer was heard.  
The audience was probably more excited for the next match and not the Half-time Show.  
and Just like that... There wishes we're answered

"And Now For The Moment You've All Been Waiting For... **Cael Abe** l Vs **Julia Cinest** "

*CHEERING*  
*CLAPPING*  
Tons of Clapping And Cheering ensued from the crowd. Although I wasn't Entralled by this at all!  
I didn't expect the duel happen so soon. It's sometimes amazing how minutes can feel Like seconds... But regardless The match was starting and I needed to prepare.  
First thing I did was put on my duel disk...  
Luckily it was the compactable kind and could be folded up, so I had neatly folded in my side pocket. I took it out and pressed the button on the side.  
*CLICK CLACK*  
It Un-Compressed and Formed into a White and blue duel disk that was standard model of this city. I slipped it onto my arm and I was ready to go.

"*Ahem*" My ears registered the sound of the commentator clearing his throat and I prepared to run into the arena, as I Wanted to make an impression on everyone.  
The Commentator finally introduced me!

"On the Left side, We have The average 'Boy Next Door' Cael Abel!"

*Shouting* Some mild cheering was heard.  
"B-Boy next door?" I didn't Know if that was a compliment or an insult. But regardless I Ran outside of the Entrance-Way door and to my **D** **estiny**.

Destiny was now calling me to a match of wits and Mind. But ...Could I reciprocate?


	27. Realization of Relation

As soon as I walked out of the door, The serene light of the outside sun hit my face. The cloudyness from before had cleared away and in it a new advent of light had come.  
And Once Again, I was greeted Immediately Greeted by Waves of Shouting People, All of there faces expressed immediate glee,by the site of me. But they were most likely more excited by the duel itself starting than my advent...  
The Monitor in the front of the stadium displayed myself and Julia. The picture of Myself was from when I first entered the Tournament a month ago...

I remember like it was Yesterday...

{One month Earlier...}

"Name,age and birthdate, Please" The secretary said

"Cael Abel. I was born on July 26th 2060, I am 14 years old."

"Wrong order, But ok kiddo." She snarked.  
The secretary stamped my name on a card and handed it to me.

"Now just stand over there so we can your picture honey."

I posed and the camera clicked.

"Congratulations, Your now officially Entered into the Neo city Youth Tournament!"

{End}

What a time that was...  
But regardless of the past. I was in the present and now needed to face _Her_. Julia.  
"At 14 years of age, He's Just an average kid In Neo city! But so far, He's proven Himself to be quite the Formidable Opponent as He defeated **Jermaine** **Cinest, with his** wits and _fusions!"_

Applause rang out throughout the Stadium,Everyone had clapped at my previous achievements.  
I was embarrassed but I had heard a name I hadn't heard in awhile...  
"Jermaine Cinest..."I remembered.  
I suddenly Knew why I Recognized Julia... She was Related to My first opponent... **Jermaine**

{Also One month Earlier...}

"I activate my facedown card 'graverobber' "  
"With that card he can steal one spell or trap from my grave and use it against me" jermaine concluded  
"thats right! And I chose your 'survival of the fittest' card"  
"*gasp*"jermaine gasped I think he finally realized my plan,  
Suddenly a grin just like his own formed on my face

""hey jermaine there's an old chinese proverb, it goes like this:"

[ _You are your own enemy]_

"Now this forces your armored mantis and my laser zio to battle!"

Laser zio infused his sword with the spirits of his fallen allies and sprang towards the mantis  
Slicing him as he did before and ending the duel

Jermaine life points: 0

[Cael Abel is the winner of this duel] a robotic voice said

Jermaine looked dumbfounded  
"how could I lose..." All of his cards fell to ground then He gripped his head and shouted

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" He yelled.

{End}

" Oh." I remembered  
I don't why I didn't realize it sooner. They both have that same Leary and animated look.  
The same Posture.  
The same deck  
Even the same Voice.

The announcer Now introduced Julia into the fray.  
"And On the right is his Opponent... Julia Cinest!"  
She appeared on the other entrance side of the arena.

Unironically She was wearing a Brown Dress... It looked really out of place and Iredescent.  
A Bigger applause for her, erupted across the stadium.  
I heard multiple Chants from the audience.  
From:"We love you, Julia!" To: "Go Bug Sister-Chan!".  
"*Smooch*" Julia gave a kiss back to the crowd causing an uproar.

The announcer smirked and said:  
"She first faced John Catheter in The first round and Now has gone to dominate the ranks with Her Insects of Mayhem!"  
Julia slowly walked to her side of the arena.  
I could Feel it again... The **Duelist's Passion.** Building up inside of us...  
With the tension rising, Julia spoke up.

"Well Caely, Looks Like It's come to this."  
"Yeah..." I said back not knowing what to say.  
"It'll Be such a shame to Take down a cutie like You... But alas, It must be done."  
"I wont Go down so Easily" I said as I got my duel disk ready.  
"Ha! We'll see..."  
There was nothing else to say. Nothing else to do. Nothing else to see,But duel.

"And Now The Question Is Which one of these two Champions will Come out on top?" The announcer said.  
I didn't Know the answer to that question But I did know that my destiny awaited me.

"Duel!"


	28. Deja Vu - Cael vs Julia

"Duel!"

We both said. We turned on our duel disks and got ready to duel.  
The area around us lit up as the holographic display system got ready.  
The whole field felt like a wonderland of colors as it lit up, I had seen it before when leonaidis and azuma dueled ,but now being here...It made it feel more... special.  
"Alright You two!... Heads or tails?" Ted asked us.  
"Tails!" Julia excitedly said.  
"Heads" I said calmly in contrast.  
A virtual coin flipped up in the air, The coin flipped over and over until it finally came down... And it landed on Tails, Meaning that julia would go first and I would go second.  
(Curse my Luck...) I thought.

"Alright! Start!" The commentator Declared.

"Good luck." I wished as I drew my first five cards.  
"You too, but I don't think I'll need it with this deck!" Julia Replied back to me, as she also drew five cards and Began her turn.  
"You're really confident aren't you?" I Replied.  
"Yup! After-all I can't lose After Coming this far!" She replied.  
The same was true for me, I didn't Want to lose and let down my friends.  
It might be the same for Julia and Her brother... Maybe.

Julia plucked through her cards as she did so she began to speak.  
"Caelino... Let me ask you a question..." Julia Pointed at me.  
(Caelino?)  
"What's your favorite Insect?" She asked.  
I had to think about for a second... It was not an odd question as Just like her brother she was likely to be interested in insects.  
As for me... I always thought ants were cool. Their cohesion always int  
"Probably Ants... The way the work as one cohesive Team is very cool, I guess." I said casually.  
"Hehe. A cute answer for someone like you!" She teased.  
"T-Thanks?" (I guess.)  
"Yup. Ant's are pretty great! They can lift over 3 times their own and They've been around since the Dinosaurs!" Julia Exclaimed  
Julia's grabbed a card out of her Hand, and began staring at it.

"My favorite insect is the... _Beetle_."  
"Beetle's?" I asked. It seemed like a less than interesting Pick.  
"Yuppity! I've always been stunned by their beauty and Intelligence...!"  
"Not only that But Their also key in maintaining the Environment! They Produce dung which fertilizes the ground-"  
Julia went on about Beetles and their environmental impact for about 2 more Minutes...

"-They also Eat fungi which helps trees-"  
"*Sigh*" I was use to this with Rhaja and Dinosaurs, But at least dinosaurs are Non-existent In Nature, So it's a bit more intriguing.  
"-But with that Being said, There is something That I think you and Ant's have in common."  
"And What's that...?"  
"You're About to get squished!" She teased.  
Julia then Slammed a card on her duel disk!  
(She's Summoning A monster!) I Concluded.

"I'll Summon, Giant Horned Beetle!"  
The ground shook when she declared that, as A crevice formed in the ground and from it A new monster Appeared!  
It was a Giant Blue Insect with a winged back and a gianormous Horn petruding from it's head.  
Saliva drooled from it's mouth as it looked at me and it scathed the ground as if it was waiting for a fight.

Giant Horned Beetle  
Level 3  
Earth/Insect  
Atk 1500 Def 1200

"Isn't it Just a cutie?" She asked  
"It's a monster... Literally." I replied Jokingly.  
"Ehehe~ That's What you think...!"  
"But There's Beauty In Everything Caelino... And You'll Soon learn That! I end My turn" She ranted.  
Her first turn was a Weak one. She had only Summoned a Weak Monster In Attack Position and Didn't even set a trap...?  
(Strange...) I thought. But I didn't Have to think. It was my turn and I needed to start.

"I Draw." I exclaimed,  
I drew a card from my deck and began my turn.  
I had 6 cards In My hand and I looked at all of them and Considered my Options.  
I had Two Monster in my hand and the we're spells... Only one of the two Warriors i had Could Defeat the Horned beetle.  
So I decided to summon him.  
" I summon Parallel Warrior Bludgeoneer!"

When I summoned him blood appeared from the card from the field.  
And from that blood came a monster… or more like a knight. He was covered from head to toe in red armor with a mace Chained on to his hand.  
The weapon in which he would "Bludgeon" to death upon his enemies

Parallel Warrior Bludgeoneer  
Level 4  
Earth/Warrior  
Atk 1800 Def 1000

"Cool!" Julia commented.  
"You're awfully cheery..." I said  
"Hehe. Well I think Dueling should be about fun! It's not all about drama and winning."  
"Tell that to your brother..." I whispered.  
"What was that?"  
"N-Nothing"

"A-Anyway I'll Have Parallel Warrior Bludgeoneer Attack! Virtous Mace Spike!" I ordered.  
The knight chained up his mace and started to launch it at the beetle.  
*CHANG* The chain made a wounding sound as It Fastly launched from his hand torwards the beetle.  
"Gragh..." It hit the bettle squarely on it's horn causing it cry out in pain and be destroyed.

Julia LP: 7700

"Lucky shot..." Julia added.  
"That's not all Though! My Monster's effect activates now!" I said.  
"Huh?"  
"When he destroy's a monster by battle He deals you damage equal to half of that monster's atk!" I explained.  
Her monster had 1500 Attack, So she would take 750 Damage. Bring down her life to 6950.  
"Spike Shot!" I declared.  
The Spike's from Bludgeoneer's mace shot off from it, Each and everyone of them hitting Julia, causing her to shriek.  
Although she looked pleased for some reason.

Julia LP: 6950

(She's as weird as her brother.) I concluded.  
"With that I end my turn." I declared.  
I didn't have any traps or spells to set, So I simply ended my turn.  
With My first turn done, I anticipated Julia's next move. Last turn she had just summoned A medium-strength monster with no effect.  
What would she do this time? Would she do anything?

"Alright~ My turn!" She exclaimed.  
She took out a card form her deck and began her turn.  
"Hehe." She giggled as she looked at the card she drew.  
"I drew a nice card, Caelino..." She claimed.  
"Really?"  
"Yup! and now I'll demonstrate to you!"  
"I summon Creek Beetle!"  
Water from beneath the depths Leaked above To reveal a new kind of Beetle. Twas blue and covered in creek water with a clear mark on it's back and It's small and meek frame bustled below the rest.  
I could tell it wasn't a strong monster from the outset...

Creek Beetle  
Level 2  
Water/Insect  
Atk 500 Def 350

"Then I'll Set one Card Face down and That'll be the end!" She declared...  
Her face down appeared in a yellow glow on the field.  
I stared hard at it.  
(This is Such an Obvious trap...) I thought.  
Summoning a weak monster and A face down, That was a Classic trap setup. But it Makes me wonder though... Why would she do such an obvious move?

"I-I Draw!" I said confused.  
Julia giggled. It was like she was mocking me.  
"I wouldn't Attack If I we're you..." She commented.  
(What the heck Does that even Mean...?) I thought. (N-No, She's just trying to unnerve me.)  
I continued on with my turn, Looking at The card I drew.  
"Parallel Warrior Espion..." I said looking at the card.  
He wasn't very strong on his own, the card only has 800 atk. But his effect would allow me to summon two of it's 'Dopplegangers' of itself with 400 atk.  
If I summoned him and His 'Dopplegangers' I could do over 3000 damage.  
I didn't think twice about it

"Come On! Parallel Warrior Espion!"

I placed the card on my duel disk.  
A Small Warrior with an overcoat and A black fedora hat appeared onto the field.  
He had a bowgun in His hand with a smirk on his face, He appeared to be Very lucid.

Parallel Warrior Espion  
Level 2  
Dark/Warrior  
Atk 800 Def 800

"Now then! I'll Activate his effect!" I declared.  
"By Paying 400 Lifepoints..."

Cael LP: 7600

"I can summon two doppleganger tokens!"

Tokens  
Atk 400 def 400

Both of the tokens we're translucent with a mirror-like effect on them.  
They were in defense position meaning I couldn't attack with them or much of anything with them since they're tokens without any sort of effect.  
Speaking of attacking though...  
With four Monsters on the field,The question that needed to be asked was: 'To attack or not to attack'?  
Julia had placed such an obvious tactic, The: "Bait and lure". If I attacked she could activate her face down and I would be screwed.  
But at the same time… If I did attack I could do around 2300 damage.

(Risk vs Reward.) I thought.  
In economics, "risk" refers to the likelihood that a person will lose money on an investment. An investment is the purchase of an asset for the purpose of earning money.  
I remember learning about this in Prenatal-Economics class.  
If I apply to that logic to dueling then maybe...  
"Jeez Are you going to do something...? You've been staring at your hand for 3 minutes now~" Julia teased  
(Nevermind)  
If I don't attack I'm Pretty sure this duel will turn into a stalemate.  
With hope in my heart I declared an Attack!

"Fine! Guess I'll Do this! Parallel Warrior Bludgeoneer attack Creek Beetle! Mace Spike!" I ordered.  
The knight chained up again, his mace and started to launch towards the watery beetle.  
It's Curved chain at hit the insect right on it's horn Causing it to be destroyed.  
Julia Lp: 5650

"Hehehe... Ahaha!" A devious grin formed on Julia's face, Like nothing I had seen before.  
She pressed a button on her duel disk her set card activated.  
"You fell For it! You Dummy!" She cackled.

"I activate **Insect Destruction Plague**!"


	29. Cael vs Julia 2

"I activate **Insect Destruction Plague**!"

The card flipped over, Revealing it's horrifying artwork.  
It depicted mantis's and beetle extruding bacteria and microbes onto a village of innocent humans.  
I facepalmed myself, How could I have ran into such an obvious ploy...?  
How could I have not seen this coming? It was the same damn move her brother pulled!

{1 month ago}

Jermaine drew a card  
"oh well, I guess you can't win em all" he looked at his card dissapointingly... but it doesnt phase me, I know he's just playing me  
He ended his turn

(Argh…. Dammit)  
I dont think jermaine is going to do anything until I run into his trap!  
"Alright then! I Guess ill have to run into your little trap jermaine!" I said  
"hehe I dont know what your talking about cael.."  
(Soon you will), I say to myself.

"I change my parallel warrior zio to attack mode."  
"and next ill attack Your basic insect!" I declared an attack.  
Parallel Warrior zio raises his sword to the sky and and thunder strikes it infusing it with the power of the gods  
He charges foward towards the basic insect  
And he jumps and slashes jermaine's insect  
Jermaine life points: 6000  
He lost 2000 life points

"hehehe AHAHAHA you fell right into my trap" he laughed maniacally  
(Dammit) I knew this was coming and I guess i'll have to endure it  
" take this! **Insect destruction plague**!"

{End}

The only difference was that he stalled and she actually condescended me into doing this!  
"You tricked me!" I claimed  
"You tricked yourself~ Caelino. I warned you not to attack and yet you did! Dummy!" She winked.  
(She's right. Annoyingly) I reluctantly admitted.

"Now then! This trap is a very special one~" She said.  
"When one of my insects with 1500 or less attack is destroyed, You have to-"  
I interrupted her.  
"I already know. **I have to send all monsters in my deck with 1500 or less atk to graveyard and take 200 for each one**." I explained.  
"How'd You know?" She asked confused..  
"Let just say That I played against someone who used the same strategy"

Without haste, My duel disk selected all the monsters in my deck with 1500 or less atk.  
It was about 10 cards, which wasn't much compared to the last time. When I nearly Had discard my whole deck...  
Luckily though I learned from that experience and changed my deck.  
I had taken out alot of my weaker monsters and Replaced them with either spells/traps or slightly stronger monsters.

Cael Lp: 6000

"Due to Bludgeoneers effect You'll take another 250 damage."

Julia LP: 5400

Now we were about equal in life points. But not equal In Game state.  
But Julia still had an advantage... I had lost 1/4th of my deck and she had her's still in tact.  
"I set one card and end my turn." I said reluctantly.  
The face down appeared on my side of the field.

"Hehe. My destroyed monster also has an effect!"  
"*Tch* What?"  
"When its destroyed, I can summon another insect from my hand!" She exclaimed.  
"Why cant you ever summon something with only 2 legs?" I muttered to myself...  
From her hand she summoned a monster...

Cross Sword Beetle  
Level 4  
Wind/Insect  
Atk 1800 Def 900

The insect was an odd looking one.  
It had four razor sharp jaws that pointed inward, towards it's mouth almost like swords with two overreaching thoraxes.  
It was almost like it was from a work of fiction.

"Now it's my turn!"  
Julia Smiled as she began her turn, I could tell that she planned to follow up Move's last turn with an even more powerful one.  
"I draw." She pulled a card from her deck and giggled.  
"I think You've had enough beetle's for Now. Let's change it Up!" She declared.  
"...?" I was confused.  
"When There's no monsters on my field I can Summon - Primitive butterfly from my hand!"  
From Her Hand an moderately sized Insect fluttered out onto the field.  
It was colored green and Purple and It's wings had a floral pattern on them, This was in contrast to the spears at had on it's abdomen which protruded out.

Primitive Butterfly  
Level 5  
Wind/Insect  
Atk 1200 Def 900

"It's not very strong..." I recognized.  
"Oh caelino. It's not all about Strength you Know?" She said condescingly.  
Julia then took out a card from hand and prepared to summon it.  
"It's about Power and Strength!" She slammed the card down on her duel disk Causing a shockwave.  
The ground beneath us began to shake as the earth itself began to be disturbed.

Cracks appeared from the ground beneath. Fear ensued as the ground shook up and down, as if the entire place suddenly fell from the sky and struck the earth with mighty impact.  
From the ground, burst out a huge towering Mass of insect. It hovered over the over monsters, Causing them to flinch.  
Out appeared a Gianormous insect that towered over the other monsters.

It was the **King of Insects.**


	30. Cael vs Julia 3

The devasting Monster Growled on to the scene as it crawled detestably, It was blood red and it's hideous face was an devious yellow. On it's back showed it's bare spine that stretched it's whole body. Goo oozed from the mouth of the king as it looked at me ferociously.  
All the other monsters including Julia's other beetle cowered in fear as the monster made it's booming presence known.  
I could feel the fear in their hearts along with the anxiety in mine.

Insect King  
Level 8  
Earth/Insect  
Atk 3000 Def 2500

(again...) I thought as I stared the huge Behemoth in front of me.  
Once again, Another card from Jermaine... It was his main monster - Insect king.

"I think I've been going to easy on you, Caelino~ So like an abusive mother here's some unjust punishment." She said.  
"That's a messed up analogy." I replied as I stared at the monster in the face.  
"Lots of things are 'Messed up' Caelino."  
"Please stop calling me caelino..." I requested.  
"But Not as messed up as your Bludgeoneer is going to be! Attack Insect king!"

She Got right into it, she declared an attack immediately.  
The insect king's fang showed. The dripped with more green goo than was in the oceans surrounding the city.  
It rushed towards the center of my monsters, Where bludgeoneer was 'stationed', And it gripped him with its fangs, Slowly eroding his insides.  
It was a gruesome scene.

Cael LP: 4800

"That's Not the end of this cuteness Massacre! Cross sword Beetle Attack one of the tokens!"  
It's four razor sharp jaws that Outward and It Charged towards My Doppleganger token on the right side of me.  
It grasped it within it's four Jaws and crushed like an fly.

"Cael... I hope you've brought a second pair of Knickers..." She joked.  
"W-Why?"  
"Because cross sword beetle does Piercing damage!"  
Piercing damage Meant I took damage If the defending monster's DEF is lower than the attacking monster's ATK, the difference is it's inflicted as battle damage.  
The insect contracted as spun out needles that launched towards me.  
Making me take damage.

Cael Lp: 3400

"Hehe. It's only been two turns Caely, and You've already lost half of your life Points!" She said as she spun her hair.  
"*Tch*" I only scoffed in reply.  
"Jeez. This is just embarassing... Didn't you beat Ryuken and My brother...! I expected better from you!"  
That surprised me... I though she didn't even know That I dueled brother. She seemed to be Dull of everything else.  
But how could she know unless Jermaine told her That?  
"Y-Your brother...?" I Replied surprised.  
"Yeah. Him. The guy you beat in under 8 turns. The wimp. The Joke." She jested.  
"That's not very Nice." I replied  
"Life isn't nice." She retorted as she snarled.

(Ouch...)  
"Jermaine is an embarassment to my family. I'm glad you tried not to bring him up, I cringe everytime I thing about him.  
"I-" I stuttered. How could I even respond to that?  
"Listen,Jermaine wasn't the best person... He was kind of a prick, But You're his still his sister? You Shouldn't talk about him Like that." I claimed  
Julia stared at me. Our clashed for about 10 seconds before she said anything else.  
"Well regardless... Its None of your business. Just start your turn." She warned as she ended her turn. Quietly though she had also set a card. I noted that as I began my turn

I rolled my eyes and Began my turn.  
*Slck* My deck made a slick sound as I drew a card from it.  
I turned the card I drew around And I looked at it with glee...I had drawn Parallel Warrior Zio!  
With Him I could at least Fight back against Julia's beetle and Maybe If I got lucky… I could destroy her Insect king.  
Without hesititation I began To summon him.

" I'll Tribute Parallel Warrior espion and his token To summon Parallel Warrior Zio!"  
They both Disappeared into thin air and Zio's silhouette began to appear.  
He Bolted out in a flash of Blue, Showing his mask in a Ambient fashion.  
His sword infused with the spirit of lightining and long black coat to cover him.

Parallel Warrior Zio  
Level 7  
Dark/Warrior  
Atk 2500 Def 2000

(Hmmm) I considered whether or not to attack.

I could run into another trap and be screwed over again….  
But At this point, what Did I have to lose?  
I'm Already pretty 'done over' So it wasn't like it could get any worse... Right?

" This is the end for Cross-Sword Beetle! Go Zio! Lightning Discharge!"  
Zio's body began to spark up with electricity, It spark carrying volts and volts of personified energy all manifesting on his sword. Which it shot out of Towards Her beetle.  
"*Tsk* You don't ever learn, do ya?" Her facedown Flipped up.  
The artwork depicted a man ejecting From an Jet aeroplane,While a streak of red followed him.  
"Compulsory Evacuation Device! It's gonna return You're cute warrior to your hand!" Julia Declared.  
"What?" Zio with a stroke of Red returned from the Field to my hand.  
(Dammit...) Another Careless move by myself... Why am I so off my game today...?

" No matter You do Caelino~ I'll Always have Something to Counter it!" She Winked.  
"..." I Was quiet. Another Careless move by myself  
" You Should just surrender now. At least you'll still have your pride." She said.  
"Never." I replied.  
I Rejected Julia's Brash offer and continued my turn.  
I picked out two cards from my hand and set them to the field.  
"Thats the end of my turn" I Declared.

Julia Now with fervor in her eyes Began her turn. She drew her card with vexation and laxation,  
"Hehheheheheheheh."  
After briefly looking at it for 4 seconds she began to laugh like an hyena.  
"What's so funny?" I asked.  
"Well It's Just... I never get this far in a duel..."  
"Most people only last 2 minutes with me, In fact they often miss the climax."  
"Please Don't say it like that." I realized.  
"My point is tbat you're the first one to ever drive me this far and for That. I Love you for it." Julia Remarked as she blew me a kiss.

"But unfortunately. Everything must come to an end. Including you."She pulled a card from her hand.  
" Behold The beautiful Insect princess!"  
Her Crossword Beetle vanished from the air and in it's Place a beautiful figure appeared. It was humanoid with Butterfly wings attached to it's. All covered with a yellow undertone.

Insect princess  
Lvl 6  
Wind/Insect  
Atk 1900 Def 1200

"A level 6 That's Only One Hundred attack Higher...?" I questioned.  
"Hehe." She giggled  
"don't get too flustered now! She's only appearing for a second!"  
"...?" I didn't understand what she meant, but I would soon find out what she meant in a second. She thrust her arm forward in an actor-like fashion and began to speak out.  
"Behold, Insect king's true effect! Insestous Decree!" She declared.  
Acid began to foam out of The king's mouth as he spit it out on the princess. It was disgusting display of biology mixed with entomology.  
" with this, I can change the level of all isnect types by declaration!" she exclaimred  
"The level I'll chose is six! " she said.

Insect king  
Level 6

I now knew what Julia was going to do.  
With Two Monsters on the field with the same level…. She was going to **Xyz** summon a Monster.  
"It's Time for The Next generation of Insect supremacy to come!"  
Fulfilling Her promise of Destiny she Began to Xyz Summon.  
The king and the princess formed into Two Bright Shining Orbs Of Light they Flew Into The Vortex Causing A Beam Of Light Of Come Out.  
The Xyz Summon had Been Succesfully Performed And Now A new Terror came out.

"I Summon **Inzektor Exa Beetle**!"


	31. Updates - Restarting

Hey everyone. So I have some good news and some bad news.

I'll tell you the bad news first.

 **Bad News**

Let me just get right to the point - **I'm not continuing to work on this story.**

There are many reasons for this so let me tell you why.

1\. **It's just getting too difficult.** Between my bouts of depression and anxiety, This story has just been on the backburner.  
I mean I've barely updated it in two months! it's gotten so difficult to even _start_ work on the story as often times I cant even think of words,actions or dialogue the characters would make.

2\. **Awkward dialogue and typos**. guys. I'm really not stupid. I realize that my story has a ton of problems such as typos and grammatical problems. There are so many of these that it would take a miracle to fix all of them.

3\. **The story itself**. I don't know if it's me, But the last 10 parts (Except for the leonaidis and azuma duel.) Have been really freaking boring. Like seriously for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to have an entire chapter where cael waits in the hallway. I don't even know what I was thinking, I got really off-track with this story,

4\. **Lianna**. I honestly don't know why I wrote this character into the story. She doesn't serve any purpose.  
She's practically just another version of yubie except even more annoying. I think I wrote her in their to make leonaidis seem more like a jerk when he tells her off.  
She is seriously like the jar jar binks of my story. Just annoying and unnecessary.

 **Good News**

 **I have not Given up! The story will go on!**  
I never abandon stories and leave them to rot. A writer should always finish what he started and that's what i'll do... Except that I'll have to **start over**.  
What I mean by this is that i will have to **create a new story altogether.**

It will be almost the same as this one except for 3 things

1\. **I'll fix everything!** I swear there will not be any typos or grammatical mistakes in this newer version. Or at very least there won't be that many.

2\. **Lianna will not exist**. _Probably_... Von aries _might_ have another daughter but she'll probably have a different personality and be relevant to the story somehow.

3\. **I'll change it to a Play/script format**. This way I won't have to write "X person said." After every line of dialogue. -and it'll be easier to tell who is speaking.

4\. **Overall It will be better**. Like I said, i'm going to change a lot about the quality of this story. For one thing, I'm going to write that scene where azuma tells the crowd about Leonaidis family's companies crime alot better.

* * *

In conclusion, I'll be rewriting the story.  
I'm sorry that ended the story in the middle of a duel but I can't force myself like this any longer.


	32. Updates- Its out

**Great News** : The new story is out. It's under the same title of Yu-Gi-Oh star champions. You can find it by going to yu-gi-oh section or clicking on my profile.

Thanks for supporting me guys and I'd like to thank ryseversuswriter for helping me on the new story.


End file.
